Trifles or Truffles
by miss37
Summary: Mac and the team are investigating a case that seems to be about expensive truffles but it turns out to be much more than that.
1. Chapter 1

**Trifles or Truffles?**

Mac Taylor was on his way to a crime scene. He had decided that New York was right where he belonged…at least for now. He had gotten a call to this crime scene…of course, it was 3am. Mac sometimes wished they could locate a dead body some other time besides this time of the morning. It was common to find a body this time of the night though…night or morning? He was not sure he called this morning, although it was in the AM, ante meridiem. To Mac it was the dead of night when most people were trying to get some sleep…but not CSI's.

Mac finally arrived at the crime scene, where Don Flack was already waiting for him. "Morning, Mac," Don said. "Do you think we'll ever get any sleep in this lifetime?"

"Not as long as we stay here," Mac replied. "What have we got?"

"Inside."

Mac followed Don into the restaurant. "This is a gourmet restaurant," Mac said. "What's somebody doing here this time of the morning?"

"Someone saw the light on here and called the police," Don said. "I guess there are people who notice things." He pointed to the victim, who was lying on the floor between the stove and the food storage racks. "We got here and we found the victim there. His name is Pierre Manicotti."

Mac looked at Don with one of his inquisitive looks. "Yeah," Don said. "That's his real name. He's the owner of this restaurant."

"So, someone killed him over what?"

"I guess that's the question."

Just then, Danny Messer walked in along with Jo Danville. "So, what have we got?" Jo asked.

"Our victim was the owner of this restaurant," Mac said.

They squatted beside the body. "Shot right through the heart, looks like," Jo said.

Mac looked at the wounds on the victim, one through the heart, one in the abdomen. "Shot twice," he pointed out. "Whoever did this wanted to make sure he died."

"I agree. Now, if we can figure out why, we can get this case out of the way."

Mac looked at the victim's hands. "Nothing under the nails," he said. "Doesn't look like there was much of a struggle except that bruise on his face there."

They looked around the area as Danny took pictures of the crime scene. Mac picked up a piece of food from the floor…or at least it looked like food. He smelled of it and it had a pungent aroma. "Wow, this has a strong smell," he said.

Jo looked at it. "It looks like a mushroom," she said.

"It's black." Mac considered that. "There aren't that many black mushrooms in the world." He put the piece of mushroom in an evidence bag. "We'll have to see what kind of mushroom this is."

Jo stared at Mac a moment. "You think a mushroom is worth killing over?"

"You know that there are mushrooms in France that sell for a thousand dollars a kilo?"

"A thousand dollars?"

"Yeah, and we know that money is always a big reason for murder."

"So these truffles have caused someone some trifles?"

Mac chuckled at that connotation. "Looks like it could be possible unless he has a refrigerator full of them here somewhere."

"If they sell for that much in France, imagine what you pay for them to get them here?"

"I'm sure there is quite a price on their…heads."

When they were done with the crime scene, they went back to the lab. Don Flack came to Mac's office later with some information about the victim. "He had his restaurant willed to his niece, Julia. She lives in Boston. We contacted her and she's on her way here."

Mac looked at the information Don had. "I don't really think this is the reason for this murder," he said. "If she wanted to kill him to inherit the restaurant, why would she do it at three in the morning?"

"I don't find anyone who didn't like this guy. All his customers have been satisfied over the last few months. There have been no complaints about the food. As a matter of fact, he has a four-star rating."

Mac considered that. "Then it must be something else," he said. "What would he be meeting someone at three a.m. about?"

"Beats me. I would never have a meeting that early in the morning for any reason that's legal."

"So maybe our chef was dealing in something besides food?"

"I don't know."

"I guess I need to go and see what Sid found."

Just then, Danny came to the office. "Mac, I found out something about that mushroom," he said. "It 'was' a mushroom."

"So, what did you find out?" Mac asked.

"The Black Truffle is native to South and Southeastern France. It is the most expensive mushroom you can get and it is even fought over in France. These things have a shelf life of about three weeks and grow about a foot underground around Oak, Pine and Willow trees and they use dogs and female hogs to sniff them out. These things are rare because of deforestation and acid rain, so they are worth a thousand dollars for about two pounds. Since they're harvested mostly in winter, they are very rare. We're still testing the mushrooms. There were several on the floor."

Mac looked at the report Danny had brought. "So, this guy was buying mushrooms from somebody?" he asked. He had an amused look on his face. "Who kills over mushrooms?"

"You kidding?" Danny asked. "People fight over these things, even pull weapons on each other."

"Fighting over mushrooms?" Don asked. "I think I've heard it all now. Can't they just go to the grocery store and buy some?"

"Not these. These things are extremely rare and they're a delicacy. Some people even consider them an aphrodisiac."

Don snorted at that. "I'm not even going to comment on that," he said.

"Alright," Mac said. "Let's see if we can find out who was trying to sell him these mushrooms."

"If they're selling them on the black market, I'm sure they are well hidden."

"Well, maybe we can dig them out."

Don laughed as he was walking back to the elevator. Mac looked at Danny. "Get Adam to find out who sells these in the United States and find out if they were doing business with Mister Manicotti," Mac said.

"I'm on it," Danny said and headed down the hall.

Jo came to Mac's office next. "So, what have you found out?" she asked.

"Our victim may have been killed over truffles," Mac said. He explained it to her as they were walking to the elevator. "We have to see what Sid has to say."

"Maybe the victim had tasted the mushrooms and they weren't authentic."

"They were. Danny's analysis confirmed it."

"So, if the mushrooms were authentic, why was he murdered over them?"

"I guess that's the burning question."

They went down to the morgue where Sid had finished the autopsy. "Sid, what have you found?" Mac asked.

"Well, your victim had eaten mushrooms," Sid replied. He gave Mac a container. "He ate them quite close to death."

Mac looked in the container. "You find anything else?" he asked.

"He was shot twice, once through the abdomen and the killing shot went right through his heart. If he had not been shot through the heart, he might have survived." He gave Mac a container with two bullets in it. "They're both the same caliber."

"Is that all?"

"Yes. There's no indication of any other injuries besides some bruising on his face. Looks like someone hit him with their fist."

Mac and Jo took the evidence and went back to the lab. "So, he had tasted the mushrooms," Mac said. "Maybe they had been kept too long."

"Or maybe they weren't as authentic as the seller claimed," Jo suggested. "Maybe he threatened to expose them as a fraud."

"Or maybe they were trying to soak people and he was blackmailing them."

"Or maybe he was tired of paying their inflated prices and decided to try a little blackmailing and it backfired on him."

Mac put his lab coat on and analyzed the stomach contents while Jo analyzed the bullets. "These are forty-fives," she said. "No hits."

"He definitely ate some of the mushrooms that we found on the floor," Mac said. He leaned on the lab table. "Question is: what happened after that that caused him to be murdered?"

"Argument?"

"We have some work to do."

Danny came into the lab. "There are two sellers of this type of mushroom," he said. "They import them directly from France, but they don't even import them this time of the year. These are seasonal mushrooms, mostly harvested during the winter."

"We had quite a harsh, long winter last winter," Mac said. "But if the mushrooms are only harvested in the winter, then where did they get these?"

"Maybe they had them in storage and claimed they had found some this time of year."

"If this chef is a professional like he claims, he would know that they weren't fresh."

"Exactly. Maybe our chef accused the sellers of overcharging for them and threatened to sue them or turn them in."

"It's just mushrooms," Mac said. "So they're not fresh…why would they care? Half the food in this country is kept in storage."

"Because they can't get as much for them if they're not fresh. If these had been kept in cold storage, they would not last long. Maybe they were defrauding people claiming they had fresh ones. A thousand dollars a kilo is a lot of money."

"So, let's go visit these two importers and see what they have to say," Mac said as he took his lab coat off. "Danny, you take Don and go to the first and Jo and I will go to the other. Let's see what we can find out about the mushroom business."

"Mushrooms," Danny said. "I think I've heard it all now."

"I doubt it."


	2. Chapter 2

Mac and Jo arrived at one of the shipping warehouses where the mushrooms in question were imported. There were a lot of trucks around and forklifts, palates, crates and people, and even a train waiting to be loaded. Mac parked in front of one of the buildings. "So, where do we find someone to talk to out here?" Jo asked.

"I suppose we look for anybody we can find," Mac replied.

They walked around the building that they were parked in front of and finally found someone with a white hardhat on. "Hey, what are you doing out here?" he asked. "You're not supposed to be out here without a hardhat on."

Mac showed him his badge. "We need to talk to someone about a case we're working on," he said.

"You still need a hardhat on."

"Can't we talk to someone who takes care of distribution?"

The man pointed to another building a few feet away. "You need to talk to someone in the office," he said.

"Thanks."

Mac and Jo walked over to the next building and found a door that had the word OFFICE on it. They went inside and found an office that smelled a lot like vanilla. There was a secretary at the desk and a man standing looking at a file. He looked at Mac and Jo. "Can I help you?" he asked.

Mac showed him his badge. "Are you in charge here?" he asked.

"Pretty much. I'm Pete Comer. What's the problem?"

"I'm Detective Taylor and this is Detective Danville. We're investigating a murder. I understand that you import black truffles from France?"

"Yes, among other things. What has that got to do with anything?"

"Our murder victim was a restaurant owner." Mac showed him a picture of the victim. "You ever seen this man?"

"No, but we don't sell directly to restaurants. We sell to distributors and they sell to the restaurants."

"Are the mushrooms you sell authentic?"

"As far as I know."

"I need a sample."

Comer stared at him a moment. "You're serious," he said.

"Do I look serious?" Mac asked. "I wouldn't come all the way out here for nothing."

Comer frowned. "Well, if you're going out into the warehouses, you have to wear a hardhat," he said. "Most of the time when we get some of those mushrooms in, they're taken right away because they're fragile and they're also very expensive."

"So we've heard."

They went outside and Comer gave Mac and Jo a hardhat each. "We'll have to ride on one of the transport vehicles here," Comer said. "We have to go all the way to the other side of the yard."

Mac and Jo climbed into the jeep behind Comer. The distribution yard was quite large. They soon arrived at the right warehouse. "It's cold in here," Comer said. "This place has to be refrigerated for the food that's inside."

Jo folded her arms. She was not dressed to go into a refrigerator. "Don't worry," Comer said. "We have jackets to put on."

They went inside and got a jacket before they went into the refrigerated area. The noise of the refrigeration units was loud on the inside. Mac could not help but remember being locked in that freezer, but at least this was not that cold. Comer had a clipboard with him and he went right to the area where the mushrooms were kept. There were only two crates in the area and they were not very large. Comer got a crowbar and prized the top off one of the crates. Mac put on a pair of gloves and picked up one of the small bags of mushrooms. It looked like it was full of dirt. "You keep them in the dirt?" he asked.

"They're better preserved if they're in the dirt," Comer said. "They can be washed when they get where they're going."

Mac nodded. He supposed that made sense. He took a sample of the mushrooms from the bag as well as a sample of the dirt. "Are these the only ones you have here?" he asked.

"Yes," Comer replied.

"Have you ever noticed any missing?" Jo asked.

"No. That would be reported if there were any of these missing. They're expensive after all."

"So, you buy them from some company in France and then distribute them here?"

"Actually, our buyers over there get them from individuals and then we sell them to distributors here."

"So, it's just a complicated hand to hand network."

"You might say that, but it works."

"We need to know the names of your distributors for these here," Mac said.

"I'll have to get those from the office," Comer replied.

"How long do you keep these here before they're taken?"

"No more than two days. Like I said, they're fragile. The taste and aroma are best within the first three weeks."

"I don't know that I've ever eaten these."

"They're quite tasty, but we need to get going because I have work to do."

They went back out to the jeep and headed back over to the office. There was only one distributor for this company. "I guess they're making quite a bundle if they're the only ones distributing these," Jo remarked.

"There's another provider, but they don't work for us."

"But they can charge as much as they want if they are the only ones selling them."

"I don't have anything to do with that. That's between them and the restaurants."

"Thanks for your time," Mac said.

Mac and Jo went out to the Avalanche. "You think he has as little to do with that as he says?" Jo asked.

"Probably," Mac replied. "It's quite a complicated network."

They headed over to the distributor to see if they were the ones who were supposed to sell the mushrooms to Pierre Manicotti. "I've never eaten any of these mushrooms," Jo said. "I think they're too expensive for my taste."

"Mine too," Mac replied.

"They're supposed to be an aphrodisiac. Do you think that's true?"

Mac chuckled. "No. You're either in the mood or not. I think people just eat something like that and they 'expect' it to put them in the mood, so they call it an aphrodisiac."

Jo laughed. "You just don't believe in the unusual, do you?"

"Yeah, I do, but some things are just silly."

Jo smiled and looked out the window. "I guess it doesn't hurt to try."

"I guess not."

Mac yawned as he drove to the distribution center. It was still early but it was daylight now. He had been up since three this morning and it was now around 9am. He supposed he would work all day and then maybe go home tonight to get some sleep…if he wanted to.


	3. Chapter 3

As Danny and Don were arriving at the other shipping center, they noticed that the building was painted purple. "I guess they want to stand out," Don said.

"I guess," Danny replied as they got out of the truck. "You know, this case reminds me of that commercial where these people were saying 'there's something in the gravy'."

Don laughed. "I remember that," he said. "It could have been a mushroom."

"Lumpy gravy. I don't really care if my gravy has a few lumps in it."

"Yeah, it will all give you high cholesterol whether it has lumps or not."

Danny snickered. "I don't know about that. My grandmother never had high cholesterol or anything like that."

"Must be in the genes."

"I guess."

They went into the office area and found that no one was there. "Looks like they don't have many visitors," Don said.

"I agree," Danny said. "I guess we'll have to go and find them."

They went through the door into the warehouse area. They could hear motors running and could hear people shouting over the noise. "Hey! You can't be in here!" someone yelled.

Don and Danny looked around to see a woman coming toward them who looked like she could throw them out with no problems. Don even had to look up at her. "What are you doing in here?" she asked.

Don and Danny showed her their badges. "I'm Danny Messer, this is Don Flack. We're investigating a murder."

"A murder? What does that have to do with you being here?" The woman asked.

"Are you in charge here?" Don asked. He looked at the woman's badge. "Charlotte?"

"Yes I am. You need to come to the office."

Don and Danny followed the woman to the office where it was much quieter. "Now, what's this about a murder?" Charlotte asked.

Don showed her a picture of the victim. "You ever seen that guy?" he asked.

"No. Who is he?"

"Pierre Manicotti," Don said.

"He was the owner of a restaurant," Danny put in. "Do you deal in Black Truffles from France?"

The woman grabbed a clipboard from the desk. "We don't have any of those right now," she said. "They're out of season." She looked at them. "Why?"

"Because this guy had some at his restaurant."

The woman chuckled at that. "Well, they couldn't have been fresh…or maybe they just got here in the last batch but those are over now. If he got them, he must have paid plenty for them."

"That's what we were thinking," Don said. "You know of anyone who sells these things from storage?"

"If they do, they couldn't keep them for long. They don't last long in storage. No one is going to pay top price for them if they've been kept in storage."

"So I guess someone would be pretty angry if they found out they had been jipped, right?"

"If they were paying the top price for these and they were in storage, I would guess they would."

"Thanks."

Don and Danny turned around and went out the door. "That wouldn't explain why they would kill that chef," Danny declared.

"Maybe he threatened to expose them," Don said.

"At three in the morning? How did he wind up there at three in the morning?"

"That's a good question. There must have been something weird going on."

"I'll agree with that. Nobody should be at a restaurant at three in the morning."

"He was killed before that. Maybe there's something we're not seeing."

"Something that maybe Sid could tell us?"

"Maybe."

Mac and Jo were going into the distributor warehouse. "I hope we find out something more here than we found at that other place," Jo said.

"We might find our killer," Mac replied.

They went into the office which was painted blue and had a waiting room. Mac and Jo walked over to the desk. "Hi," the woman at the desk said. "May I help you?"

Mac and Jo showed her their badges. "We need to talk to someone about mushrooms," Mac said, feeling odd saying that.

"We understand that you distribute Black Truffles," Jo said.

The woman typed in her computer. "Yes, we do, but they are not in season right now," she said.

"So you don't have any right now?" Mac asked.

"We do have the last shipment in storage but they're about to be picked up by the restaurant owners."

"Can we get a list of the restaurants who pick up here?" Jo asked.

"Do you have a warrant? What is this about?"

"We're investigating a murder. Do you know a man named Pierre Manicotti?"

"Yes, I have met him. He is one of our buyers. Are you saying he's dead?"

"Yes," Mac said. "And his last meal was some of those mushrooms."

The woman stared at them a moment. "We only give them their orders as they come in. They're paid for before they're shipped."

"Are your mushrooms always authentic?" Mac asked. "How long do you keep them in storage?"

"You can't keep them in storage for very long."

"But if you did, what would they be like?"

"The flavor fades and they are just not good and don't have the right texture."

"So, they're not worth as much."

"No."

"But what if someone was trying to sell them for the same price and claim that they were fresh when they weren't?"

The woman stared at them a moment. "Are you accusing us of selling something illegally?" she asked.

"Are you?" Mac asked.

"If that is going on, I don't know anything about it."

"We need to talk to someone who would know about it," Jo said.

The woman got the phone and called someone. Mac and Jo stepped away from the desk. "You think they were selling less than fresh mushrooms here?" Jo asked.

"I don't know," Mac said. "Is that really enough to kill someone over?"

"A thousand dollars a pound? You're kidding."

"Maybe."

Just then, Mac's phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.

"Mac," Lindsey said. "I just finished the analysis on some of the mushrooms that came from the victim's stomach and some from the floor. They were not all Black Truffles. Some of them were Terfezia bouderi, other known as desert truffles or terfez. These are not the same thing as black truffles. They have no flavor of their own. They only take on whatever flavors they're mixed with and they are not worth near as much as the real black truffles. Desert truffles are only worth about twenty to fifty dollars a kilogram. Looks like someone is mixing them with the more expensive ones."

Mac scowled. "So, someone's been selling fake truffles."

"Not 'fake', but not the right ones."

"Thanks, Lindsey."

Mac put his phone away and looked at Jo. "Someone's selling less than true truffles," he said. He explained to Jo what Lindsey said. "I think I would get pretty mad if I found out someone was jipping me like that."

"I think I would too," Jo replied. "That's a big difference."

"But that wouldn't explain why he was there at that time."

Jo considered that. "Maybe there was something there that slowed down his rigor or something."

"Maybe but maybe he was just there for something else. Maybe he was working late on inventory or something."

"But why would they show up?"

Mac shook his head. "Those are some questions that need answers. But maybe they showed up to try and convince him that they were not selling the wrong ones and when he tasted them, he knew."

"Maybe they came there to kill him," Jo said. "If they couldn't change his mind."

"Maybe."

The secretary stood up. "Mr. Williams will see you now," she said.

Mac and Jo followed her out into another area where she gave them hardhats and put one on herself. Then she led them to the other side of the distribution center where it was very cold. There was a man there who was all of six feet tall, and probably more. He was wearing a blue hardhat but he had a beard that let everyone know that he had red hair and he had piercing blue eyes. "Hi," he said and shook hands with Mac and Jo. "What can I do for you, Detectives?"

Mac showed him his badge anyway. "I'm Detective Mac Taylor," he said.

"And I'm Detective Danville," Jo added. "We would like a sample of the black truffles that you're distributing from this warehouse."

"Why?" Williams asked.

"Because we have reason to believe that they are not all authentic and we think that fact might be linked to a murder," Mac said.

"Murder?"

Mac showed him a picture of the victim. "You ever seen that guy?"

"Pierre Manicotti. Yes, I've seen him." Williams stared at Mac a moment. "Don't come around here accusing me of murder. All I do is give these people what they order."

"So who does have anything to do with what kind of mushrooms these are?" Mac asked.

"You would have to ask the ones who packaged them."

"How do I know you're not mixing something else in them to make more money?"

Williams turned around. "Come this way," he said.

Mac and Jo followed him into the refrigerated area. He pointed to some packages. "Those are the packages those mushrooms come in," he said. "There is no way we can open that and no one know it. It's impossible to reclose that package."

"So you've tried it?" Mac asked.

Williams frowned. "No, I haven't. I'm just telling you that if someone opened that package, it would be evident."

"Have you had any missing?" Jo asked.

Williams scowled. "Now that you mention it, we did have two packages go missing before," he said. "We reported it but how can you track down something like that?"

"You think they were being distributed for a cheaper price?"

"Could have been?"

"How long has it been since Manicotti came here to pick up anything?" Mac asked.

"You would have to ask the secretary about that," Williams replied. "I don't have those records out here."

"You got any ideas about who might have stolen those mushrooms?" Jo asked.

"Things go missing all the time. There's no way to keep up with anything like that with all the stuff that goes through here."

Mac thought they were not going to get any further here. "If he wanted to get them at a cheaper price, who would he go to?" he asked. "Do you have any ideas about that?"

"If you're talking about things sold on the black market, I don't know," Williams said. "If he's buying things like that, he can't expect them to be authentic."

"Thank you for your time," Mac said.

Mac and Jo turned to leave. "There's a piece missing somewhere," Mac said.

"Yes, but if he was buying those mushrooms off the black market, we could spend the rest of our lives trying to find out who he bought them from," Jo said.

"Someone knows someone who knows something."

Jo looked at Mac. "Are you trying to sound clever now?"

"Maybe."

They went back to the office and asked the secretary how long it had been since Manicotti had picked up an order. "About a month," the secretary answered after she typed in her computer. "He had not ordered any this time because the ones we have now are for others. He usually picks up once a month."

"Thanks," Mac said.

Mac and Jo went out to the Avalanche. "Well, it would be unusual for him not to pick up at his usual time," Jo said. "That could mean that he was getting them somewhere else. Maybe that's why he was there at three in the morning…he was buying illegally obtained mushrooms."

Mac shook his head and chuckled. "That just sounds ridiculous," he said. "I mean, why would you go to all that trouble?"

"He runs a fancy restaurant, Mac. He gets paid high prices for those meals with those mushrooms in them."

Mac nodded. "I suppose. If that's the case, we could say that one of the customers figured it out."

"They would just sue I think. This has to be whoever he got them from."

Mac nodded. "I agree…but to find out who."

"It's going to be a long day and night."


	4. Chapter 4

Mac and Jo got the financial records from Pierre Manicotti's restaurant. "Every month like clockwork," Jo remarked as she was looking at the records. "He goes practically the same date every month."

Mac was looking at the appointment calendar. "He had an appointment last night at seven," he said. "He just has 'meeting' written there with '7 pm' under it."

Jo looked at Mac. "So if he was having a meeting at seven, why was he there so late?"

Mac considered that. "What's the last entry in the financial journal?" he asked.

Jo looked at the last page in the journal. "The date is yesterday…and today." She looked at Mac. "Maybe he was there working and they came there because he knew they were selling less than true mushrooms."

Mac considered that. "That could be right but how did they know that he would be there?"

"If someone wants to do something, they usually know how to find out what they need to know."

"So, how do we find out who did this? I'm sure they also know how to cover their tracks."

"There must be something…or someone out there who knows something."

Mac thought a moment. "Flack may have someone who will know or be able to find out."

Mac got his phone and called Flack and told him to try and find out something about mushrooms sales in the city. "I think this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever investigated," Don said. "Who kills over mushrooms?"

"These are very expensive mushrooms," Mac said. "Just find out."

"I'll get on it."

Don turned his car around and headed back the way he had come. He knew who might know something about this. Terrence always knew something about everything. He was not a criminal but he had contacts on the streets and always knew what was going on. Don went down to Terrence's club and went inside. Terrence was standing behind the bar. "Don Flack," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to ask you something, Terrence," Don said.

"Like what?"

"Do you know anything about Black Truffles being sold here in the city illegally?"

Terrence stared at Don with a confused look. "Black Truffles? No, I haven't. Why?"

"Cause, we've got a guy dead who may have been killed over them. There were some fake ones in with the real ones. See, these truffles sell for a lot of money and the fake ones…or the ones that are different sell for a lot less."

"I haven't heard of anything like that. Who was the dude who was killed?"

"Pierre Manicotti. You know him?"

"I've heard of him." Terrence leaned on the bar. "I don't think he was killed over mushrooms, man."

Don stared at Terrence a moment. "Why?"

"That guy had a lot of stuff going on the side."

"Like what?"

"If there was some kind of deal going on, he was in it. He was probably connected to every low life in this city. He had his finger in every pie."

"So he was into drugs and everything else?"

"You can believe that. Have you ever seen where that dude lived? No restaurant owner can afford a pad like that."

Don scowled. "His house hasn't been searched yet," he said.

"House?" Terrence chuckled. "Wait till you see it."

"I guess I'll have to let Mac know about this. Thanks, Terrence."

"You're welcome." Terrence held up a bottle. "You want a drink?"

"No, I'm on duty."

Don turned and went back outside. He took his phone out as he got into the car…

"Taylor," Mac answered as his phone rang.

"Mac, I found out some interesting information about Mr. Manicotti."

"Tell me."

Don told Mac what Terrence had said. "Looks like our restaurant owner was into more than cuisine."

"He could have been hit by anyone then," Mac said. He blew out a breath. "Let's see what we can figure out."

"Looks like this is turning into a complicated case."

"Yeah, one that has been heading in the wrong direction."

Mac put his phone away and went to Jo's office. "We've been looking in the wrong direction for this case," he said. "Don just found out some information about this Pierre Manicotti. He had his thumb in every pie in town."

"He must have pulled out something besides a plum then," Jo remarked.

Mac shook his head and smiled at Jo's sarcasm. "You really know how to turn a phrase, don't you?"

"You might as well joke. It makes things lighter."

Mac sat down on the couch. "This situation just makes it harder to figure out who killed him though. This may wind up being one of those cases that sits on the corner of my desk for years."

Jo looked at him. "Don't tell me you're giving up," she said.

"Of course not but this is going to be hard to solve."

"Why don't we go out for dinner tonight and we can figure out something while we're relaxed?"

Mac scowled. "You want to go out for dinner with a case like this?"

"Sure. Everyone needs to relax and Ellie is gone to stay with her aunt tonight so we can have all the time we want."

Mac stared at her a moment wondering what she had in mind. "What did you have in mind?" he asked.

Jo leaned on her desk. "Oh, maybe we could get really bold and go see a movie," she said.

"That could be fun."

"Or we could go to a concert and jump around like teenagers."

"That could be fun too." Mac looked at her. "But you remember what happened when we went shopping."

Jo smiled and leaned back. "So this time we won't be looking around trying to find a criminal."

"I don't think that's possible."

"Yes it is. I go out all the time and don't find criminals."

Mac smiled. "Are you saying that I don't have any fun?"

Jo stared at him a moment and narrowed her eyes. "Mac, I don't think you have had any fun in so long you don't even know how to turn loose and have fun anymore."

Mac's smile faded slightly. "You're probably right, Jo. You always point out the worst in me."

Jo's mouth dropped open. "That's not what I'm meaning to do," she said. "I just want you to live life."

"Yes, I know. Hey, I run every day."

"But I want to take you out. Will you go or not?"

Mac considered that a moment. "Sure, I'll go."

"Great! By the way, we're not dressing up. We have to dress up every day at this office and I do not wear dress clothes when I go out."

"I can go along with that."

"Then it's settled."

"So where are we going to eat?"

"I'm not sure yet but I'll figure that out. I'm going to pick out the most fun place I can find."

"Can I eat a big, juicy steak?"

Jo smiled. "I would like to see you do that."

"I don't think I want any mushrooms." Mac's eyes twinkled with humor. "They might not be authentic."

Jo laughed. "I think you're a whole world of fun under that shell."

"You never know. You might have more fun than you've ever had."

"Probably since you haven't had fun in so long."

Mac was not sure what she meant by that. "Well, I'll go in there and write my report. If we don't get any more calls or get any more clues, we can go out tonight."

"Let's keep our fingers crossed."

Mac left the office. Jo watched him walk away. She had wanted to go out with Mac for so long. She enjoyed being with him and she thought maybe they could be more than friends but she was not sure he would want that.

Mac sat down at his desk and thought about that date. He supposed it did not hurt to go out and have some fun. She was right though. He had not had any fun in a long time…of course, he enjoyed his job but that was not the same thing. He was looking forward to going out but he hoped she did not think this was more than that.

Don and Danny were out looking for leads in the case. "Maybe the mushrooms didn't have anything to do with the murder," Danny said. "Maybe this was about money he owed someone or something."

"You could be right," Don said.

"They say this house is almost like a castle. I just hope Mac and Jo are going to come and help me search it. I'm going to collect computers and see what I can find in the office."

"What about under the mattress?"

"Oh please."

Don chuckled. "You never know what people do."

When they arrived at the "house", they were shocked that they had never noticed the place before. "Wow," Don said. "This doesn't look like a place that a restaurant owner could own."

"Nah, not without something else," Danny replied. "Unless he is up to his eyeballs in debt."

"Or drowning."

They went through the gate that led to a long driveway up to the white house which looked like it could have forty rooms. Don parked in front of the house and they got out. They looked up at the house which was about three stories tall. "I hope somebody in there knows where the office is," Danny remarked.

"It might take a long time to find it if they don't," Don replied.

They went to the door and rang the doorbell which sounded like a church bell. Don looked at Danny. "Well, I guess if you're in a house this big, you need a loud doorbell," he said.

"That's enough to wake the dead," Danny replied.

They waited a few moments but no one came to the door. Don rang the doorbell again and Danny tried the handle and the door opened. "Hello!" Danny called. "Police!" He pushed the door on open.

Don and Danny stood there a moment and just stared. "Well, it wasn't enough to wake the dead," Don said as they were staring at two dead bodies.

"I guess I better call Mac and let him know this case just got a lot bigger," Danny said.


	5. Chapter 5

Mac hung up his phone and headed out of his office. He walked to Jo's office. "Our case just got bigger," he said.

"What happened?" Jo asked.

"Danny and Don went to the victim's mansion and found two more dead bodies."

"What is going on, Mac?"

"I don't know, but obviously it is bigger than mushrooms."

"I guess that cancels our date for tonight."

"I guess."

Mac and Jo went to the elevator and went to the crime scene where Danny was already taking pictures. "So, what have we got?" Mac asked.

"Well, it looks like one of these people may be the butler and the other is the maid," Don said. He looked around the house which was totally torn up. "I think someone was looking for something."

Mac had to agree with that. "Question is: what?" he said. "And did they find it?"

"Wow, this is a severe tossing," Jo remarked as she stepped over a broken table.

Mac shook his head. "They were sure looking for something." He looked at Don. "Is the whole place like this?"

"Yes," Don replied. "Upstairs is broken up too."

"Does it look like they found what they were looking for?"

"Can't tell, but everything that could contain something has been emptied and torn up."

Mac frowned. "Nothing left intact, huh?"

"Not a thing."

Danny finished taking the photos. "Looks like these two people didn't know what they were looking for either," he said.

"I would agree," Mac said. "If they had known, it doesn't look like they would have torn up the house once they found what they wanted."

"It's going to be hard to find out what they were looking for," Jo said.

"Surely someone else knows something."

"I would have to agree with Terrence," Don said. "I don't think that guy got this by owning a restaurant."

"Well, you never know," Mac replied. "He sold some pretty expensive dishes in there."

They began their collection of evidence from the bodies. "It looks like they were beaten," Mac pointed out. "Whoever did all this must have tried to make them talk."

"And they didn't know," Jo said. "Or they wouldn't have torn up this house. Chances are, they didn't find it."

"Whatever 'it' is."

Mac and Jo stood in a corner of the room and looked around them. "Now, if I didn't want someone to find something, where would I put it that they never would?" Mac asked.

Jo shook her head as she looked around the room which was quite large. It had an open stairway that wound up to the upper floor, and the entire place was made of varnished wood, and the walls in the living room were off-white. "Well, it obviously wasn't behind a picture or anything," she said. "Everything has been ripped off the walls."

Mac stared around them and let his gaze fall on the stairway. It was basically untouched. He thought it looked like there could be a small room under it. He walked over to the stairway, which was not an easy task with all the stuff in the way. He moved over to the stairway and investigated the width of the stairs and how far behind the enclosed area under the stairs went. It was definitely enough to have a secret compartment in there, and who knew how far back it could go. It looked like just the support for the stairs but Mac had seen stairs with small rooms under them.

Jo came over to him. "What are you looking for?" she asked.

"Anything that looks unusual," Mac replied thoughtfully as he continued to look at the stairs. He did not see anything in the wood that would indicate a door or anything, but he was sure it would not if someone wanted to hide something in there. He began to examine the stairs and went around to climb up the stairs as he looked at each one.

Jo watched him, wondering what he was doing, but she waited and did not ask questions. Mac stopped on the tenth step and stared down at the twelfth. He could see that it looked like the carpet was divided slightly at the back of the step. He knelt down and looked closer at the step. He pulled at the sides of the step but nothing happened from the back so he pulled at the front of it and discovered that it was like the top of a hinged box. Jo put her hands on her hips. "Just how did you find that?" she asked.

Mac looked at her and shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "I just had a feeling there was something here." He lifted the top up and found that there was an electronic panel in it with a red button on it. He pressed the button and two lights flashed on the panel and then he heard a click below him, suddenly hoping that the steps were not going to move, but Jo looked around to the side of the steps.

"There is definitely a door here," Jo said.

Mac got up and went down to the door. He looked at Jo. "Well, maybe we're about to find out what they were looking for," he said.

Don was curious and came over there. He looked into the secret panel. "You going in there?" he asked.

"Yes," Mac answered.

Mac pushed the door on aside. "If this door closes, go up there and open it again," he said.

Jo followed Mac into the passage which was not very wide but wide enough to get down it. Mac shined his light around and found that the passage was well-kept, or visited often, because there was no dust and no cobwebs. Mac knew if it no one ever came in there, it would have dust and cobwebs. He looked at Jo and put his hand on his weapon as they continued down the passage. He hoped they did not find anyone down in there.

"Well, how far does this go?" Jo wondered out loud.

Mac was beginning to wonder that himself as he came to a stairway. "This must be quite a secret," he remarked.

"I can't wait to see it," Jo replied.

They finally came to a red door that had a gold handle and even had a peephole in it, which Mac thought was odd. The door opened inward. Mac turned the knob but it was locked. He looked at Jo. "Well, I guess we have to pick this lock before we can get in there," he said. He squatted and opened the forensics kit he had brought with him. He took out the lock picking set and got back to the knob.

"It's odd to me that this door wouldn't have some sort of electronic lock," Jo said.

"Maybe no one knows this is here."

"Well, why does it have a peephole and why is it locked?"

"Only certain people knew it was here?"

Mac heard the lock click and he put his lock kit away and stood up. He looked at Jo. "Question is: if the people upstairs knew this was here, why didn't they tell the ones who were searching?" he asked.

"Maybe they didn't," Jo said. "Maybe they just came here to clean the house. Maybe they didn't live here."

Mac turned the handle and pushed the door open. It was "almost" dark in the room, but there was a faint glow as though there was a lamp on in the room. He drew his weapon, and Jo did the same. After all, they did not know what was in this room. They moved slowly into the room and found that there was no one in there, and there was a lamp on in the room. However, what Mac and Jo noticed most of all was what was hanging on the walls and standing around in the room. Mac looked at Jo and she was even speechless as they gazed at the countless treasures there in the room.

"Mac, this stuff must be worth millions of dollars," Jo said.

"If they're real they are," Mac agreed.

"Why would you hide something like this if it wasn't real?"

"Right."

There were countless paintings on the walls that were priceless as well as jewelry and statues that should be in museums. Jo walked over to one of the paintings and shined her light on the signature. It simply said "Vincent". "Oh, my word," Jo said. "Mac…"

Mac looked at it. "These paintings must be stolen," he said. He looked at Jo. "There have been a lot of Van Gogh paintings stolen over the years. It looks like they are all here."

"A chef is an art thief?"

"Looks like it. This must be how he has made all his money…by selling priceless treasures like this."

"But where did he get them?"

"Who knows? He must have known how to get them."

Just then, Don Flack walked in. He looked around the room. "I thought I would come and see how you two were doing," he said. "Are these what I think they are?"

"They're priceless treasures," Mac said. "This must have had something to do with Mr. Manicotti's death."

Don walked over and looked at some of the paintings while Mac and Jo walked around. Jo picked up something that looked like an egg. "Mac, this just can't be what it looks like," she said.

Mac thought a moment and looked at Jo and Don. "I think our chef was a treasure hunter, and not always legal," he said. "But if he found these treasures, and someone found out about it, this could be the reason for his death, and this stuff is worth more than millions. I've read about these treasures."

"You think these are the real thing?" Jo almost whispered.

"No way to know until they're analyzed by someone besides me."

"No wonder he could afford this place," Don said. "Maybe he stole some of this stuff from people."

"And he had the restaurant just for a cover."

They were all still in awe as Mac called in the situation. Danny came in and looked around the room. "This is incredible," he said. "I wish Lindsey was here to see it. She loves this kind of stuff."

Don stood beside Danny. "I've never really been into art," Don said. "Especially when it starts costing this much."

"I agree, but some people are. This case is a lot bigger than we thought."

"But why would they kill the chef before they found this?"

Danny shook his head. "Maybe it wasn't about this at all."

"Then why tear up the house?"

"Too many unanswered questions."

Mac walked up beside them. "Questions that need answers," he said. "Maybe they thought he had it hidden somewhere else…and this could have been done before he was killed. We have to get the times of death of the two bodies found here and that will help shed a little light on this."

"It looks like they would have brought the chef back here to make him show them where all this was," Don said.

"I agree, but why they didn't is a mystery. Let's get busy."

An art and treasure expert from the museum was called in to collect the treasures. Once they were analyzed, they could find out more about where they had been and maybe whom the chef had gotten them from…


	6. Chapter 6

Mac was sitting in his office when Russ Josephson came into the lab. He walked to Mac's office and knocked on the door. Mac waved him on in. "Hi," Russ said.

"Hi," Mac replied. "What brings you around?"

"Oh, I think you know. You've stirred up a very interesting nest."

"And what nest is that?"

"A nest of people who want to get their hands on those treasures you dug up today."

"Those treasures belong in a museum," Mac declared.

"I agree, but chances are, they won't all find their way there," Russ said.

"Why is that?"

"Do you know what all was in that room you found?"

Mac stared at him a moment. "I'm waiting for a report," he said. "What I want to know more is how you know this before I do."

"Well, when something like this is discovered, you can expect the government to get involved. There are a lot of people who want that stuff back where it belongs. Those paintings you found are worth millions and they had been stolen from several different places and countries."

"I know that, but that still doesn't explain to me how you found out what we found in there. I have not told anyone yet."

"Do I really have to go into all that?"

"Yes, you do because I want to know."

"Some of those items were stolen, the museum curator was required to inform the FBI of it. He called it in when he realized what he was looking at was actually real."

Mac leaned on his desk. "I was pretty sure they were real anyway," he said. "No one would go to all that trouble to hide fakes."

"Good point."

"So, I suppose you know more about this than I do, so are you going to share?"

"Are you going to share?"

"I don't think I know anything that you don't know yet."

"Do you know who killed Pierre Manicotti? Do you have a suspect?"

"Not yet," Mac admitted. "We don't have any clues as to who killed him or invaded his house. There were no clues left. All we have to go on is those treasures. We are still running the fingerprints we found on them."

"Do you realize how many times those things could have changed hands?" Russ asked.

"Of course, but some of that stuff was lost treasures that no one had a clue where they were. If he found those, he had a legal right to them, but those paintings…he had to have stolen them or knew who did."

"And you're not any closer to finding them?"

Mac looked at him. "No," he said.

"I'm sure they're international art thieves that are wanted all over the globe."

"I'm sure they are too because some of those paintings were not all stolen in the same country."

"I thought you didn't know anything about them."

"I've done some research and found information about them while I waited to see if they were the real thing. Since you've told me that, I know that they were stolen all around the world and those treasures he had in there were lost treasures. If he found all that, he must have been hunting them for years and didn't let anyone know he had them."

"But someone found out. Why would he want to collect all that stuff and just keep it in there like that? Why wouldn't he want to sell it?"

Mac considered that. "Maybe that was how someone found out he had it," he suggested. "Maybe he sold a piece of it."

"You could be right. That's something we will have to check into."

"We need to check all auctions and all sales that have been conducted lately."

Russ stood up. "Let's keep in communication," he said.

"Remember that yourself," Mac replied. "We have a murder to solve."

Mac watched Russ leave. He knew they would not tell him everything but he would find out himself and he just might not tell them everything either. He went to the computer lab where Adam was sitting at the computer. "Adam, I want you to research all the auctions and antiquities sales that have gone on lately, about the last two or three months," Mac said.

"I'm on it, Boss," Adam replied.

"Let me know as soon as you have that information. I want to know what was sold and who sold it."

"Okay."

Mac left the computer lab and just stood there a moment thinking. He knew someone could have known what Manicotti sold at an auction or something and knew that he could not have had that without the rest of it. He had to go and see that museum curator. He went to Jo's office. She was sitting at her desk. "Let's go to the museum," Mac said.

"I've always liked museums," Jo replied. "Give me just a few minutes."

Mac went into the lab where Danny and Lindsay were still analyzing the fingerprints. "There were a lot of fingerprints on those things," Danny said. "It's hard to distinguish some of them, but the victim's prints are on them, but neither the butler nor the maid had any prints on them. We found prints from this guy…"

Mac looked at the picture of the suspect…anyone who's prints were found on those antiquities would be a suspect. "Eddie Waddle," he said. He scowled. "Isn't he a millionaire real estate tycoon in this city?"

"He is," Danny answered. "And he also owns several magazines, and not only that, but he owns an old castle here in New York. He lives in it part time and lives overseas part time and rents out that castle for big shin digs."

Mac blew out a breath "Well, I guess we are going to have to rattle his cage to see if he wanted those treasures that Mister Manicotti had," he said.

"You know what kind of trouble you can get into when you start rattling cages of rich men."

"Well, his cage probably has iron bars but even iron has its weaknesses."

"I also found these prints on there," Lindsay said.

Mac looked at the next suspect. "Arnold Watts. He's a big-time attorney and also owns real estate here and yonder." He shook his head. "Must be nice to have money."

"I wouldn't know."

"Thanks. Anything else?"

"No. Those were the only prints that were clear enough to get anything from them," Danny said.

"Okay."

Mac walked out of the lab and Jo met him at the door. "You ready?" he asked.

"I am," Jo replied.

They headed for the elevator and Don Flack was coming from the elevator. "You got something new?" he asked.

"We're about to go to the museum," Mac said.

Don groaned. "I always hated field trips to the museum except when we were looking at the dinosaurs," he said.

"I always thought they were kind of interesting."

"I'm sure you did."

Mac looked at him as he pressed the elevator button. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"Well, no offense, but everyone knows you're a brainiac," Don said.

Mac looked at Jo who was trying not to laugh. "Well, thanks a lot," he said and stepped into the elevator.

Jo and Don got in. "I mean, come on," Don said. "You always know all this stuff about history and all like you were there watching it happen."

"Maybe some people like to study," Mac declared.

"I never liked studying."

"I guess that's why I'm the head of the crime lab and you are a third grade detective."

Don frowned. "I guess so, but I wouldn't want your job anyway. I wouldn't want that responsibility."

"Somebody has to have it."

"You two are just terrible," Jo said. "You're good friends now stop this bickering."

"Hey, it's good to have a little bickering once in a while," Don said. "I like to argue with old Mac over there. He's an interesting opponent."

Mac scowled at that suggestion. "Opponent?" he asked. "I'm your bickering opponent?"

"Yeah. It's nice to have someone to bicker with who doesn't get mad at you. I bicker with Danny too."

Mac chuckled and shook his head. "Anything to break up the monotony, I guess," he said.

"So, what are we going to the museum for?" Don asked.

"We're going to get a list of all those treasures we found. There were two distinct fingerprints on that stuff that we have to investigate as well, and Adam is running down any auctions or sales that involved stuff like that. If our victim sold something at an auction, someone must have known that he had a big treasure to have that."

"Right," Don agreed. "So who were the fingerprints?"

Mac gave him the file so he could look. Don stared at it a moment and then looked at Mac. "You're kidding, right?" he asked. "We're going after these two?"

"No, we're not going 'after' them, we're going to ask them some questions," Mac said.

Don shook his head. "That is going to stir up a big wasp nest," he said. "These two can buy anybody they want to buy."

"Not me."

"It will be worse than that time we were after Robert Dunbrook."

"Well, you remember how that turned out, don't you?"

Don frowned. "I do."

Mac realized he had touched a nerve with Don. "I'm sorry for bringing that up," he said.

"It's a lot better now," Don replied. "Can't be changed."

Jo did not know much about that situation…as a matter of fact, she knew nothing about it but she did not want to ask. "Where are we going first?" she asked.

"The museum," Mac answered. "I want to know what all they have so we can compare it to any lists that Adam finds."

"Right."

They went out to the Avalanche and headed for the museum. Mac thought as he was driving. He could not believe how this case had evolved. At first they had thought it was about mushrooms but now, they knew it was much more than that. He could not help but wonder why the mushrooms were there in the restaurant though. He wondered if they used that to get him where they wanted him….but why kill him? They could not get the information they wanted after he was dead. None of it made sense. He supposed they could shed some light on it once they got that list of treasures the man had in that room and then compare it to anything Adam found. Mac had seen a few things in there that he knew came as a set, and if anyone saw that, they would know that it was not a one of a kind and they would be looking for the rest. He could not understand Manicotti selling something like that. Did he not know that people would want the rest? He supposed it was according to what the man sold and he hoped they would soon find out.


	7. Chapter 7

Mac, Jo and Don arrived at the museum and went inside. There were security guards there of course. Mac showed them his badge and so did Jo and Don. "I am Detective Mac Taylor. We need to see the museum curator."

"No one can see him right now," the security guard said. "He's busy."

"He has my evidence in there and I need to talk to him about it."

"I'll see if he will see you."

"No, you will tell him that we are going to see him. Don't make me get a warrant."

The guard frowned at Mac and then called the curator's office. "He'll be with you in a moment," he said after the call.

Soon, a short man came from the back of the museum. He almost looked like Albert Einstein. His thin, brown hair was unkempt and he had glasses sitting on the end of his nose, and he looked like he was very nervous. "Come with me, Detectives," he said.

Mac, Jo and Don followed the man to the back of the museum and into a large back room that had several tables that were now covered with the treasures that they had discovered. The man closed the door hurriedly and locked it. He leaned on the door and looked at Mac. "I am glad you're here," the man said. "I'm Ivan Denisov. I have never had something like this in this museum. I'm afraid for my life. Do you realize we are in the room with billions of dollars of treasure?"

Mac looked around them. "Yes, I realize it," he said. "Are you telling me that all of this is real?"

"Real? Are you kidding? Yes, it's real! Treasures that were supposed to be lost!" Denisov walked over to one of the tables and picked up what looked like an Easter egg, but it was not. "Just look at that!"

Mac took the egg and looked at it. "Do you see that detail?" Denisov asked. "It is one of the lost Faberge eggs!"

"I've read about those," Mac said. "They're worth millions. How many are here?"

"Five! It is hard to believe that he had these and no one knew it."

"Someone found out." Mac put the egg back on the table. "Do you have a list of all this?"

"I've been comprising one." Denisov went over to the computer and printed out a long list for Mac. He gave Mac the list. "Billions of dollars," he said in an almost secretive way.

Mac looked at him thinking the man was too nervous to be responsible for all this treasure. "Why don't we have this moved to our vault at the lab?" he asked. "Would that make you feel better? You could come to the lab to analyze it."

Denisov looked relieved. "That would be wonderful!" he said. "You never know when someone will try to steal it! What if people found out this was here? They would…"

"Don't worry, we're keeping this quiet," Mac said.

"That's good."

Mac looked at Jo and Don who were looking a little amused at the exchange. "Don Flack will stay here with you until we can get it moved," Mac said. "How's that?"

"Oh, thank you!" Denisov said. "I would really appreciate that!"

"He likes to bicker so if he tries to argue with you, don't get mad at him."

Jo almost laughed. She looked at Don and tried not to smile. Don folded his arms. "Ha, ha, ha," he said sarcastically.

Mac slapped Don on the back. "We wouldn't want anything to happen to this stuff now, would we?" he asked.

"You're just punishing me, aren't you?" Don asked.

Mac smiled. "Everybody has to endure a little punishment sometimes." He looked at Denisov and then at Don. "Besides, you might learn something."

Don rolled his eyes as Mac and Jo walked back to the door. "See you later," Mac said, and chuckled as he went out the door.

Don looked at Denisov. "So, this treasure trove is worth billions, huh?" he asked.

"Oh yes!" Denisov replied. "Many billions!"

"Many?"

"Yes. You realize this was lost treasure?"

"Well, I guess all of it is lost at some point, right?"

"Let me just tell you…"

Don thought it would be a long evening. He hoped Mac would not leave him there too long…

Jo was laughing as she and Mac got into the Avalanche. "I can't believe you did that to him," Jo said.

"Did what?" Mac asked. "The guy was clearly a nervous wreck. He needed someone to relieve him of some of that stress."

"Are you kidding? You did that because of that little argument you and Don had earlier. You're something else, Mac Taylor."

"Well, he might learn something."

"Learn not to bicker with you?"

"Maybe."

They went back to the lab and found that Adam had gotten a list of the sales that had gone on in the city over the last three months. "Good work," Mac said. He and Jo took the list into the conference room and sat down at the table.

Mac gave Jo a page of the list and he took another. "We need to look for Manicotti's name on here, and we need to look for anything that might have been part of these other treasures that could have been sold," Mac said. "We need to look for Eddie Waddle's name and Arnold Watts."

They began searching the list. Danny came into the conference room. "The bullets that killed the maid and butler were the same as the one that killed the chef," he said and gave Mac a readout. "Also, the maid and butler died before the chef. They were killed probably two or three hours before the chef."

Mac nodded as he looked at the papers. "So, they already thought the treasures were not in the house before they went to the restaurant," he said. "Then where was Manicotti when all that was going on?"

"Maybe he had been working late at the restaurant," Jo said. "Maybe he was cleaning or something. There's a lot that goes into a restaurant."

"You could be right. It's hard to believe that they wouldn't have called him at the restaurant and told him that they had his maid and butler and that they wanted him there to show them where the treasure was."

"They may not have wanted him to know who they were, and then when they didn't find it, they went after him."

"And the mushrooms were just a hoax or something. They must have brought them there just to get in."

"Doesn't make sense," Danny said.

"None of this makes sense," Mac replied. "It doesn't make sense that he had all that treasure in there hiding it, and it doesn't make sense that they didn't make him tell them where it was before they murdered him."

"Maybe he sent them on a wild goose chase," Jo suggested.

"That could be."

"Maybe he just sold one occasionally to keep people from knowing that he had all that stuff there."

"That could be right too."

They continued looking through the lists. Danny sat down and began studying one too. Mac wrote down all the matches that he found which was only three, and Jo and Danny found some as well. "He sold one of those Faberge eggs," Mac said.

"And he sold a priceless necklace in that," Jo said. "It must have come from those crown jewels."

"Priceless stuff. I also found the names of Eddie Waddle and Arnold Watts on this. Watts was selling a painting and Waddle was selling a jewelry set. They must have seen that egg and realized that it had brothers and sisters."

"Would they kill for it though?"

"We're going to find out."

"How? It will be hard to get a warrant for them."

"We don't need a warrant yet. We're going to just ask them some questions right now." Mac looked at Jo. "You stay here and supervise that treasure when it's brought in. Danny and I will go and visit these men. Make sure every piece of that treasure is documented and where it is put in the vault. Have Lindsay help you so she can back you up."

"Got it," Jo said. "We'll get it done right."

"Good."

Mac and Danny headed out to the Avalanche. "What do you think the chief will say when he finds out we rattled the cages of these rich men?" Danny asked.

"I don't care what he says," Mac replied. "We have to question them. Their fingerprints were on those treasures…one in particular was on one of those eggs, and the other was on one of those crown jewels, so that really puts some suspicion on them."

"Question is: how did their fingerprints get on them?"

"Maybe Manicotti showed them to them and they were going to name a price for them."

"That would be crazy. He should have known they might try to steal them."

"He might have thought they were honestly wanting to buy them."

Danny nodded. "Have you ever found anything worth a lot of money?" he asked.

"No…although I did find a gold nugget when I was in the war," Mac said. "Of course, it wasn't something I could keep."

"Why not?"

"Because I was on foreign soil."

"Hmmm. What about all these places in this country where you can find treasures? You ever been to any of them?"

"No. Never have had much time for stuff like that."

"I went out to that diamond field once when I was on vacation and dug for two days and didn't find anything. Made me wonder if I really knew what I was looking for."

"Diamonds? I've never tried to look for something like that. It's not much of a chance and it would be disappointing not to find anything at all."

"Aw, come on, Mac. Don't you like to have a little adventure?"

"Not much anymore."

Mac had to admit, he had not been very adventurous since Claire died. When they were young, she had even talked him into going over to the West and climbing a mountain. That had been fun until he got into the Poison Ivy. Not only had it itched, but it had hurt too. He had not known he had touched it until his leg had turned red and swelled up. By that time, he had scratched it some and had gotten it to other parts of his body from his hands. It turned into a miserable time. He had not wanted to go to the wilderness anymore after that unless he wore long pants.

"Who are we going to see first?" Danny asked.

"I think we will visit Eddie Waddle first," Mac replied. "His prints were on the egg. Manicotti sold that egg in that auction and Waddle purchased it. Maybe he wanted the others and Manicotti had met him and showed them to him in another place besides his treasure trove."

"Right," Danny agreed. "I'm sure he would never have taken anyone in there. You think he met the man at the restaurant?"

"Could have," Mac replied. "But as far as we know, none of the treasure is missing…although there were eight of those eggs and there were only five in the treasure. That would mean that two are missing besides the one that he sold."

"Maybe that was what he was doing at the restaurant and they took what he had with him since they didn't find anything else. Maybe they thought that was all he had."

Mac shook his head. "That doesn't explain the mushrooms," he said.

"Maybe he was just hungry."

"Well, that's possible but why would he eat those?"

"Maybe he liked them."

"Maybe."

Mac had to admit, the mushrooms might not have had anything to do with the case. He wanted to know if Manicotti had anything documented about what he did with those other two eggs, and he wanted to see what Waddle did with the one he bought…


	8. Chapter 8

Mac and Danny arrived at Eddie Waddle's home, which was also a big mansion just outside the city. "Wow, I've never visited so many rich people," Danny said.

"Sometimes I wish I had my own house," Mac replied.

"Lindsay wants us to have one too someday."

Mac rang the doorbell to the house and they heard it echo through the house. "You think a snooty butler will come to the door?" Danny asked.

"Who knows?" Mac asked.

Soon, they heard someone unlocking the door and it opened. "Yes?" the woman at the door said.

Mac showed her his badge. "I'm Detective Mac Taylor," he said. "We need to talk to Eddie Waddle."

"Come right in."

Mac and Danny went into the foyer and looked around them. There was a bench in the foyer. "Sit here while I fetch Mr. Waddle," the maid said.

Mac and Danny sat down. "What is this? The waiting room?" Danny asked quietly.

"I guess," Mac replied, wishing that he had worn a tie. He felt like he was at a high society social event. Then again, he was dressed like he was always dressed when he met people. He thought he needed to think more about how he looked. He had stopped wearing a tie but maybe that was not the right thing to do. Nothing wrong with looking neat.

"You nervous?" Danny asked.

"Nervous?"

"Yeah. I guess you are. No one answers a question with a question unless they don't want to answer it."

Mac frowned and folded his arms. "I should have worn a tie," he said.

"I don't think I've ever seen you nervous about anything."

"Are you kidding? I have been nervous about plenty of things."

"Not so's anyone would know it."

Just then, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Soon, a gray-haired man who looked to be in his fifties came to the foyer. "I'm Eddie Waddle," he said in a booming voice. "You wanted to see me? Come with me."

Mac and Danny felt like they were being summoned but the followed the man outside to a patio that was shaded and had an outdoor table. "Have a seat," Waddle said as he sat down in one of the chairs.

Mac and Danny sat down, not wanting to be impolite. "Have some lemonade," Waddle said. "I promise it's not spiked."

"No thanks," Mac said. "We're here about the Faberge egg you bought at an auction about a month ago."

"What about it? I bought it legally."

"Yes, you did, but did you know the man who sold it at that auction?"

"Pierre Manicotti…no I didn't know him, but I had been to his restaurant and when I found out he had those eggs, I wanted to buy more of them. He had shown me another one but I have not heard from him again."

"Well, he's dead," Mac said.

Waddle frowned. "Dead?"

"Yes, as in, murdered."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," Danny said, getting tired of the going back and forth. "How badly did you want those other eggs?"

Waddle stared at him. "Are you actually accusing me of murdering him?" he asked. "You must be joking. Would I risk all this just for those eggs?"

"They're worth millions," Mac said. "And I have seen plenty of rich billionaires who thought they could do anything they wanted and get away with it."

"Not this one. You don't know me, and I did not have anything to do with a murder! Yeah, I contacted Manicotti about those eggs and I inspected one of them but he never got back to me with a price." Waddle leaned on the table. "How many did he have?"

"We're not sure, but all of them were not in the collection. Did you buy another one from him?"

"No. I just told you, he never got back to me."

"Did anyone else bid on that egg when you bought it?" Danny asked.

Waddle thought a moment. "Of course, two others bid on it, but there was one who was very aggressive but I guess I went over his limit and I won out."

"You remember who that was?"

"John Gordon, you know, the big banker…he owns half of Long Island."

Mac wrote that down. "Did he ask you about it after the auction?" he asked. "Did you see him talking to Manicotti?"

"I don't think Manicotti was in the room. I think he was a little nervous about selling that and didn't want people to see him, and yes, Gordon did ask me about it after the auction. Wanted to buy it from me. I told him it wasn't for sale."

"Did he seem angry about that?"

"I don't know. Everyone acts strange at an event like that when they're dropping that much cash. He had already bought a diamond necklace and I guess he was at his limit for spending that night."

Mac thought he believed this man. He did not seem hostile in any way and did not seem like the type who would commit murder…and he was even polite to them when they were asking him these questions. "Thanks for your time," Mac said.

"You're welcome," Waddle replied. He stood up. "You can check me out if you want. You'll find out that I obtained what I have legally."

Mac stared at him a moment. "Then that would make you very unusual," he said.

"I am."

Mac and Danny headed back toward the house to leave. "You believe him?" Danny asked.

Mac shrugged. "I think I do mostly," he said. "He doesn't seem to have any hostility and doesn't really have a motive since he could afford to buy whatever he wanted."

"So, you think this John Gordon could have something to do with it?"

"Well, he is now a suspect."

They went out and got into the Avalanche. "Don't you think that he was a little too cooperative?" Danny asked.

Mac considered that. "I don't know," he said. "He's hard to figure, but I think I did believe him about the egg."

"That guy could have gotten someone to rough up Manicotti and maybe they got carried away when they couldn't get him to tell them where the treasure was."

"I don't know. A man like that can afford to hire professionals, not people who would get carried away."

"You're probably right."

Mac called Adam and told him to find everything he could on John Gordon and they would get the information after they went to visit Arnold Watts. He headed on over to Arnold Watts' house which was a Penthouse in the city. "I wonder what he pays for this," Danny said as they went into the building.

"No telling," Mac replied. "Let's just see what his opinion of Manicotti is."

They went through the trouble to get into the elevator to the Penthouse and went up there. As they left the elevator, two guards met them. "Your weapons have to stay with us," one of them said.

Mac stared at him a moment. "That's not going to happen," he informed him. "We came to talk to Arnold Watts, and he can either talk to us here, or down at the station."

"Let them in," someone said.

Mac and Danny looked around to see a man standing at the door to the Penthouse apartment. He had brown hair that was curly and looked like it had a mind of its own, and he wore glasses. "Come inside, Detectives," he said.

Mac gave the guards another withering look and then went on into the apartment. "I know what you're here about," Watts said as he closed the door.

"And what's that?" Mac asked.

"You're here about Pierre Manicotti. I heard about his murder."

"And you knew we were coming to see you?"

"I figured you would show up eventually. I'm sure you know that I bought a necklace from him at the auction and that I was interested in more of the treasure he had. I was surprised that he had the Faberge eggs."

"Did he tell you how many he had?" Mac asked.

"No, he would not be specific. He said that he had more and that he would discuss selling more to me, but he would not tell what all he had. I knew that there were more of those eggs. They were supposed to be lost."

"Well, obviously he found them somehow. We know of six now. There are two that are unaccounted for. We don't know if he had them or not."

"Will they be auctioned?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Why! I wanted those treasures! I got the necklace and was hoping to get the rest."

"You got upset because you couldn't get the rest that night? Did you meet with him later?" Mac asked.

"I met with him. He wanted to discuss a price. I wanted to pay him that night but he would not take it. He said he had to check with his resources."

"Resources? What resources?"

"I don't know. Maybe someone knew of the value of those treasures."

"Who do you ask about the value of something like that?" Danny asked.

Watts paused a moment. "I don't always ask the same person about that," he said. "There are lots of people in the city who can help with such things as that."

"So, what happened when you wanted to pay a price that night and he wouldn't have it?" Mac asked. "Did you meet him at the restaurant? Did you kill him to get what he had there to show you?"

Watts frowned and glared at Mac. "That is absurd!" he said. "Are you accusing me of murder?"

"Did you kill him for what he had?"

"I refuse to answer that!"

"Why? It only takes a simple yes or no."

"I will not answer such an absurd question."

"I don't think it's such an absurd question," Danny declared. "You shouldn't mind answering that question if you didn't do it. You think because you're wealthy that no one can suspect you of murder?"

Watts looked thoroughly angry now. "You get out of my apartment," he demanded.

"Why don't you just calm down?" Mac asked. "Next time we show up, we'll have a search warrant…and you will be going downtown with us. How would you like that?"

Watts straightened his jacket with a tug at the lapels. "I would like it if you would leave my home now," he said in a haughty way.

Mac stepped closer to him. "You can remember this…if you had anything to do with this murder, this won't be the last time you see me," he said. "And we 'will' find out."

Mac and Danny turned and left the apartment. "We should have run him in," Danny said as they were going toward the elevator.

"We don't have enough evidence to run him in," Mac replied. "We have to find something that would put him in that restaurant or that ties him to that murder, whether he paid someone to do it or whether he did it himself."

"What about guns? Maybe he has some guns registered in his name."

"Maybe he does. We should check into that and see if he has any registered that are the same caliber as what killed Manicotti and his butler and maid. Maybe he even has the bullets registered."

"That would be too easy, wouldn't it?" Danny asked.

"I would love it if it would be that easy."

"Me too, but it never is, is it?"

"Not most of the time."

They got back to the Avalanche and headed back to the lab. It was getting dark outside now and Mac wondered if they had that treasure at the lab yet. It kinda made him nervous to think of all that being there but there would be no way anyone could get in there to it…except he remembered when someone got into the lab after all those drugs. He just hoped no one was that desperate…


	9. Chapter 9

When Mac and Danny got back to the lab, it was chaos. There were reporters out in front of the precinct. Mac frowned as he saw the mob. He drove into the parking garage. Danny could see that Mac was angry. "How do you suppose they found out about anything?" Danny asked.

"I don't know, but I intend to find out," Mac replied. He got out of the Avalanche and slammed the door.

Danny followed Mac to the elevator and they went up to the lab. Jo was still directing the moving of the treasure when they walked in. She was documenting every piece and Ivan Denisov was there as well. "What is going on here?" Mac demanded.

Jo looked at him. "We're getting this stuff into the vault," she said.

"That's not what I mean. What are all those reporters doing outside?"

"I don't know. I didn't tell anyone anything." Jo looked at Denisov. "Did you tell someone about this treasure?"

"How could I keep it from being known?" Denisov asked. "There were too many people who knew it was in the museum. That was why I was so nervous!"

Mac frowned and went to his office. He was disgusted with the whole situation and he had no clues as to who murdered Manicotti either. He sat at his desk and looked through the file and studied over all the evidence. Then he saw someone come from the elevator. Mac tried not to roll his eyes as he saw Chief Burns come from the elevator. He was a tall man and had blondish brown hair, blue eyes and was not much like Chief Sinclair had been, although he was politically minded part of the time.

Burns came to the office and walked in. "Detective Taylor," he said.

"Chief Burns," Mac replied. "What brings you up here?"

Burns scoffed at that. "I'm sure you know what brings me here."

"Maybe you should enlighten me." Mac never liked to go into a conversation without really knowing what it was about.

"Well, one thing is all those reporters outside who seem to think we have billions of dollars in treasure in our vault."

Mac frowned. "We 'do' have billions of dollars of treasure in our vault," he said.

"I know that, you know that, the lab people know that, but they're not supposed to know that."

"I know that."

"Don't play with me, Taylor."

"If you think I had anything to do with them finding out, you're wrong. Come on, you know that something like that is not going to remain a secret. This is something big and Manicotti had treasures in there that were supposed to be lost hundreds of years ago."

"What about this museum curator?"

Mac almost snickered at that. "That guy is so nervous, he would never spill all that to anyone," he said. "He's on pins and needles thinking that someone is going to murder him or kidnap him to get it."

"You have to admit it is a big attention getter," Burns said. "Do you have any clues in the murders?"

"We have some suspects. I have to go and visit another. We have two rich suspects…one is very calm, and the other is very defensive, but then again, he is a defense lawyer. One would have to expect him to be 'defensive'. Then we have John Gordon whom I have not visited yet. They all wanted that treasure."

"So, what do you think?"

Mac shook his head. "I don't know what I think," he said. "They are all rich enough to have hired someone to try and get it for them, but I have to wonder if they would be so messy with their choice of murderers."

"So, you have to try and find out who was hired to try and get the treasures."

"Whoever it was tried to beat the information out of the butler and maid, and they obviously knew nothing about it. Their prints were nowhere in the hidden passageway or the treasure trove."

"And they were killed before Manicotti. It's strange to me that the killer would not have contacted Manicotti."

Mac thought on that a moment. "I'm thinking that someone had lured him to the restaurant with something from that treasure and they got it," he said. "I believe they killed him to get whatever he had there, and they may have thought that was all he had. It makes me think that whoever was hired to get the treasure isn't a rich person. This person saw what he had and thought that was the biggest treasure they had ever seen."

"Someone must be really angry."

Mac leaned back in his chair. "Well, we had one angry suspect," he said. "He had wanted that egg that Waddle bought at the auction, or at least that's what Waddle said. You never know what all their conversation may have included."

"You think they may have conspired together to get that treasure?"

"Anything's possible, but if one of them got it, they could have already moved it out of the country or it is well-concealed, but you would also have to think that whoever has it would want to see it once in a while. People who love stuff like that like to look at it."

"What do you intend to do? It's going to be hard to get a warrant to search Waddle's place or Watts' place."

"We have to find the person they hired to steal the treasure. It would have been impossible to find unusual fingerprints in the restaurant because there are so many people going in and out of there, and there were none in the kitchen except the chef and his workers."

"You have a case that could go on for years."

Mac nodded. "And our suspects know it." He looked at the file. "I have to go and visit John Gordon tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes. It's late. I need some sleep, and we have a situation here."

"Get this situation under control, Taylor," Burns said. "We don't want anything happening in this lab."

Mac watched as Burns left. He would protect this lab but he wanted to find out who killed Manicotti and his workers. He got up and walked down to the vault where Jo and Lindsay were still working on getting the treasure into its place. "We're almost done," Jo said.

"I hope so," Mac replied.

Jo looked at him, noticing his irritability. "What's going on?" she asked.

"All this stuff is causing trouble. There are a bunch of reporters out there wanting to get a story and they're letting this whole city know about this stuff. How did they get all this information?!"

"Mac, with something like this, it's bound to get out."

Mac was not satisfied with that answer. "If I catch anyone in this lab selling information about this treasure to get money, they are going to be hunting a job!" he declared.

"No one here is going to do something like that," Jo said.

"Don't be too sure of that! Just getting a picture of it could bring thousands!" Mac glared around him at everyone who was in earshot. "You all had better understand that if it happens, I will find out who did it and you won't be working here!" Mac's glare fell on Jo and then he went to the elevator. He was disgusted with the whole situation. He was tired and he was going home to get some sleep.

Jo looked at Lindsay. "He's just upset," she said.

"I guess he's under a lot of pressure to find whoever did all this," Lindsay replied. "This is a big situation and then there's the question of where the treasure goes once all this is over."

Jo looked into the vault. "So much money," she said. "What would you do if you had money like this?"

"I don't know. I have never thought of having anything like this."

Mac went down to the parking garage and walked over to the Avalanche. He was glad he would not have to go through those reporters to get out of here. He was tired of this situation. He wondered who would know who was hired to lean on Manicotti. Whoever it was had leaned a little too hard. He knew there were plenty of people in this city who would kill for enough money…but whoever this was had not been a professional because a professional would have gotten the treasure before they killed all the people who knew where it was.

Mac stopped as he got to the street. He knew someone who might know who he was looking for. He went home and changed into jeans and a t-shirt and then headed out to see if he was right about his assumptions. He went down to the Green Tree Bar. He had not been there in a long time, but he had found some important clues there before. There was always someone around who knew someone who knew something and they were willing to help the cops because sometimes they needed help.

Mac arrived at the bar and sat there a moment. He was not on duty now so he left his badge in the Avalanche. He walked to the door of the bar and waited a moment before he went in. He hoped he did not meet up with any characters that hated cops. Everyone always seemed to know that he was a cop whether he had his badge or not. He went on into the bar which was dark like most other bars he went into. He walked over to the bar and leaned on it as he looked around at the people in the bar.

The bar tender saw Mac at the bar and knew who he was. He finished filling the order he was doing and then walked down to Mac. "Mac Taylor, what brings you in here?" he asked.

"Scotty," Mac said. "Aren't you going to take my order?"

"Oh, okay. So, what'll you have?" Scotty asked loudly so everyone would think he was filling an order.

"Give me a lime ade."

Scotty shook his head and went to the fountain. "I thought you were going to order something real," he said.

"Looks real to me," Mac replied.

Scotty brought the drink over and gave it to Mac. "So, what else are you here about?" he asked. "All those jewels you've got stored in your vault?"

Mac frowned and stared at him a moment. "How do you know about that?"

"Are you kidding? That is the big topic on the news tonight. It's all over the city."

"So much for keeping it secret."

"Did you think you could?"

"Well, I was trying."

Scotty leaned on the bar. "So what are you wanting to know?" he asked.

"I would like to know if you know who was hired to try and get those jewels," Mac said.

Scotty rubbed his blond hair back and looked at Mac. "Good luck with that."

"Come on, you always know everything. You must have heard something."

"I've heard a lot of gossip but I don't know which is true."

"Just tell me what you think is true."

"I hear that they hired some amateurs to get them back because they knew they would have to pay a professional dearly to do a job like that for them," Scotty said. "Only, these amateurs have never seen a treasure like the one they were after, and when they saw the pieces that he brought, they got carried away and killed him for the ones he had."

Mac scowled at that. "How do you know this?" he asked. He had to admit that it was what he had suspected.

"What are you doing in here asking me questions if you didn't think I knew anything?"

"Come on, Scotty, where did you get that information?"

Scotty looked down at the bar and then looked at Mac. "I don't know the guy, okay?" he said. "He was in here blabbing off his mouth that he had gotten his hands on some treasure that was worth millions of dollars. One specific thing he mentioned was an egg. He said it was some fancy egg that was embossed in gold and had jewels encrusted on it. When I heard about Manicotti's death, I remembered that."

"Did he mention anything else?" Mac asked.

"No. He was just talking about those eggs."

"Can you describe the guy? Did you hear a name? Was he meeting anyone here?"

"He went back there in the game room. I don't know who he met back there or who he talked to."

"Any description?"

"He had black hair, a thin mustache, brown eyes. He was young and eager. They hired him because he worked cheap, I'm telling you."

"And he knew he could make more money than he had ever seen," Mac said thoughtfully. "You had never seen him before?"

"A lot of people come in here, but yeah, I think he had been here before but I don't talk to everyone who comes in. Sometimes it's crowded and I have others here working the bar, waiting tables."

"Thanks, Scotty."

Mac walked away from the bar and took his limeade with him. He went into the game room to see if anyone back there knew anything. He would have to be more careful with them because they would not want to be a stool pigeon. He sipped his limeade as he walked into the room where the pool tables were and other things. It had been a long time since he played pool so he walked over to the tables where there was already a game going on. He would have to be careful how he started that conversation or they would get suspicious.

Mac set his drink down on the counter beside the pool tables and picked up a pool cue. He stood and watched the game. "You up for a game?" one of the men asked.

"Sure," Mac answered. "You playing for stakes?"

"Nah, just playing for fun."

Mac nodded as he watched the opponent make his move. "So, you guys heard about that big treasure trove the cops found?" he asked.

"Yeah, man," the other guy said. "They say it's worth billions!"

"Yeah, that's what I heard. I wonder where he got all that."

"I've heard that the guy was a treasure hunter and he found all that stuff fair and square."

"I heard those paintings were stolen."

"But he even had the Faberge eggs, and I heard he was murdered over them."

"Yeah," the other guy said. "There was some guy in here not long ago bragging about getting hold of two of those. He was bragging about getting it for some rich guy."

"How did he get it?" Mac asked. "From what I hear, that guy didn't want to sell that stuff."

"This guy talked like he stole it, and then when I heard that chef was murdered, I figured that guy must have done it."

"He been in here again?"

"Not since then. I didn't know the guy."

Mac thought he was getting nowhere with this but he was going to hang around a while. Maybe the guy would come in again. "He must have had some help with something like that," he remarked.

"Yeah, he said something about a couple of buddies helping him," the guy who was shooting said. "He must be crazy to be bragging about something like that."

"Probably got a little drunk and it loosened his tongue."

The guy who was waiting for his next shot looked at Mac. "Are you a cop or something?" he asked.

"What makes you ask that?" Mac asked, remembering what Danny had said about people who ask a question to answer a question.

"You ask a lot of questions."

"I'm just trying to make conversation."

"I've never seen you in here before."

"I've been in here several times, but I usually just have a drink. I decided to play a little pool this time."

"My name is Wes. What's yours?"

"Mac."

"Mac, huh? Isn't that the name of that detective who is investigating those murders and that treasure?"

Mac frowned. "Okay, I am Detective Mac Taylor, but I'm still here to play a little pool. Is it so bad to play pool with a cop or to share information?"

Wes stared at him a moment. "I guess not," he said. "I didn't know that guy who was in here. All I know is that he was bragging. You think he killed all those people?"

"Probably," Mac said. "But I don't think he did it alone if he did."

"And who do you think hired him?"

"Can't say. It's an on-going investigation."

"And you have all those jewels in that vault?"

"I guess that's news."

Wes shook his head. "Hey, since you're a cop, I want to have a little stake in our game," he said. "You must have money."

Mac scowled at that with an amused look. "I guess I have a little," he said.

"How about ten bucks?"

Mac shook his head. "Sure, why not?"

Mac could not believe he was hanging around here. He would see if his suspect came in though. He hoped if he hung around long enough, the guy would show up. However, these guys said they had not seen the man since the night he came in bragging.

As Mac and Wes began their game, Mac had not noticed anyone else come in. He tried to concentrate on the game but he was more interested in anyone who came into that bar. He took another sip of his limeade which was quite sour, but he liked it that way.

By the time the game was over, the bar was quite crowded but Mac had not seen the guy he was looking for and neither had Wes. Mac shook his hand. "It was a good game," he said as he handed Wes ten dollars.

Wes smiled. "Hey, I have something to brag about," he said. "I whipped the head of the New York crime lab."

"Don't brag too much. I wouldn't want it to get all over the city."

Mac went back into the other area of the bar and took his glass with him. He got another limeade and went to a table in the corner. He yawned as he sat down to watch people come and go. He thought he would rather be at home sleeping but he wanted to find that guy if he could.

Mac sat and drank limeade until he felt like he would float away and had to go to the bathroom. Just as he was heading for the bathroom, he saw a guy come in who fit the description the others had given him. He had to go to the bathroom, however. He could not chase anyone with a full bladder. He went into the bathroom and took care of that and then went back to the bar. Scotty came over to him. "That guy you were looking for came in," he said. "I thought you saw him."

"I did," Mac replied. "Nature was yelling at me. Where is he?"

"He's in the back."

"Give me…" Mac shivered at the thought of another drink. "Never mind." He walked away from the bar and headed toward the game room again. He saw the guy over at the pool tables.

Mac walked over to the pool tables but before he got there, the guy noticed him and frowned. He started moving away from the table and Mac saw that he was going toward the exit. He went after him and as he got out the door, the guy clobbered him in the back. Mac hit the ground but rolled back up to his feet just as the guy was coming at him with a knife.

Mac grabbed the hand holding the knife and jerked the guy around twisting his arm and made him drop the knife. However, the man had some fighting skills. He stomped Mac's foot with his boot heel and then elbowed him in the face. Mac hit the ground again but came up slower this time and the man had the knife again. "You better give this up," Mac growled. He was angry now. "You know I'm a cop."

"What are you after me for?" the man asked.

"You murdered three people trying to get that treasure. You're an amateur! Anyone could see it!"

That seemed to make the man angry and he came at Mac with the knife again. Mac grabbed his hand but he did not realize that two others were coming up behind him until it was too late. They grabbed him and shoved him up against the wall. He struggled but he could not get away from them. One of them twisted his arm around behind him until it was impossible for him to move. Mac glared at the man he had followed from the bar as he walked over in front of him.

"You better turn me loose!" Mac yelled.

"You think I'm an amateur?" the man asked.

Mac swallowed hard as he stared at the knife in the man's hand which had a five inch blade. He glared at the man. "You won't get away with this!" he said.

"I think I will!"

Suddenly, the man shoved the knife into Mac's left side up to the hilt. Mac was shocked as he twisted the knife and then jerked it out. He did not know if he cried out with pain or not, but the next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground staring at the pavement and seeing three men running away. "You shouldn't have stabbed him, man!" one of them said. "He's a cop!"

"Shut up!" the other yelled. "Would you rather go to prison?"

"It's better than death row!"

Mac closed his eyes as he felt the pain in his side and felt his blood running out. He knew he had to get some help or he would die right there. He could see his blood running out onto the pavement when he looked down. It was agony when he moved to try and get up. He moaned and forced himself to get up. He almost fell but he could see the door that led back into the bar. He was dizzy and felt like everything was moving around him. He held his side to try and keep some of his blood from running out. He reached the door and grabbed the knob. His hand was slippery with blood but he managed to turn the knob anyway and got through the doorway.

As Mac got into the doorway, Scotty was coming that way to check on him. "Help me," Mac said and collapsed.


	10. Chapter 10

Mac opened his eyes to see Scotty leaning over him and Wes too. "Don't give up!" Scotty said. "The ambulance is coming!"

Wes was putting pressure on the wound. "He's bleeding bad," he said.

Mac looked at Scotty. "Tell…them what I found," he whispered. "Tell them about…that guy. He had two with him, both male."

"I'll tell them," Scotty assured him. "Just hold on."

Mac moaned as he felt pain but he heard sirens. He knew he had found the right person now at least, and there were other witnesses who knew who he was. Even if he died they could still find the guy. He stared at the ceiling feeling like he was not in his body.

Soon, the ambulance arrived and the paramedics took over caring for Mac. Don Flack was there as well. "Mac!" he exclaimed but Mac was not responding. Don looked at Scotty. "What happened?"

"He was in here looking for a suspect," Scotty replied. "The guy arrived and he followed him outside. When he came back in he was stabbed."

"Can you describe the guy?"

"Sure I can. Wes there can too."

"Good," Don said. "Anyone see what happened?"

"He was coming over to the table to talk to the guy I guess," Wes said. "When he saw Detective Taylor, he headed for the exit and Detective Taylor followed him."

"I came back here to check on him," Scotty said. "I saw him coming in the door and he said 'help me' and fell down."

Don frowned. "Did he say anything?" he asked.

"He said to tell you that that guy who was in here was the one who did it. He stabbed him and he was the one who killed those people over the treasure."

"You guys have to come down town to give your statements and to give a description." Don watched as Mac was loaded onto the stretcher. He leaned over Mac. "We'll get him, Mac."

"We have to get moving with him," one of the paramedics said.

Mac was carried out to the ambulance and they got on their way to the hospital. Don wished he was going with Mac but he had to get the witnesses back to the precinct so they could give their statements. He took the witnesses out to the car and called Danny as he was getting in.

"Hello," Danny answered sleepily. He had gone home to get some sleep himself.

"Danny, wake up!" Don said. "Mac's been stabbed!"

Danny sat up. "What?"

"He was trying to get a suspect and he got stabbed! He's on his way to the hospital now! I have two witnesses here that I have to get back to the precinct to get their statements and their descriptions."

"I'll get on my way to the hospital. I'll inform Jo."

"Good!"

Don got to the precinct as quickly as he could. He got the two witnesses into the interrogation room so that they could write their statements. "I want you to just write down what you told me before," Don said to Scotty. "Write your name and address, phone number."

Scotty nodded and looked at Don. "I hope he will be okay," he said. "He's a good guy."

"I know."

Don went down to the other room where Wes was and told him the same thing he told Scotty. "I don't know that detective very well," Wes said. "We had a game of pool and I even beat him." He frowned. "I hope he's alright."

Don frowned. "Just write your statement," he said and went out to his desk. He got his phone and called Danny. "Are you at the hospital yet?"

"Not yet," Danny replied. "I'm almost there."

"I've got the witnesses here and they're writing down their statements. Next they will give us a description."

"Good. I just hope we can find those guys. They had to be working for one of our suspects."

"Yeah. These guys said that the guy bragged about getting that treasure for some rich guy. He didn't tell the name though."

"Well, we'll find him. We haven't visited John Gordon yet."

"I'll go with you to do that."

"Let me know when you find out how Mac is," Don said.

"I will," Danny replied. He ended the call and finally arrived at the hospital. He went inside and to the emergency area although he was sure Mac had not stopped there long. He went up to the desk and showed them his badge. "Where is Mac Taylor?"

"He was taken into emergency surgery," the woman answered.

"Where can I wait?"

The woman told him where to wait so Danny went down the hall and found the waiting area. He paced back and forth wishing he could know how Mac was. He wanted to find those guys who did this but he wanted to know how Mac was first and he did not want him there alone.

Jo soon arrived at the hospital and found her way to where Danny was. "What is going on?" she asked.

"Mac went to that bar looking for his suspect and the guy got the jump on him and stabbed him."

"He went without telling anyone?"

"I don't think he was on duty."

"And he went to a bar?"

"Yeah, it was at the Green Tree."

"I've never been there."

"I haven't been there many times. I guess it's Mac's hang out."

Jo sighed. "Did they say anything about how he is?" she asked.

"Nothing yet. As I understand it, he was bleeding pretty badly."

"And he was stabbed?"

Danny nodded. "I don't know any details but Lindsay, Sheldon and Adam are at the scene." He paced back and forth again. "I just wish I knew something. He found the guys who committed those murders, and he almost got himself killed in the process."

"Oh, I thought he was going home."

"So did I."

"I was busy getting all that treasure in place. I just assumed that he was going to get some sleep. As a matter of fact, I believe that's what he said he was going to do."

Danny shook his head. "He should have let us know what he was doing. He should have taken somebody with him for backup."

"Maybe he found something he didn't expect to find. Maybe he was just going there looking for information and actually found the suspects."

"That could be, but it turned out badly. The bartender told us all he knew. He didn't see the stabbing. Mac had followed the suspect outside and apparently the stabbing took place out there in the alley. Mac came back in with a stab wound."

"I'm glad he could get back in."

Danny had not even thought about what if Mac could not have gotten back in. He might not have survived, but what-if's did not matter. He was just glad Mac had a chance of surviving. He wished they would tell them something.

Don Flack was trying to find a lead to the suspects that Mac had met up with. He did not even know where to start looking. The witnesses had given their statements and they had given a description. He had to find someone who knew these characters and maybe they could help them find them. He had already put a sketch of what the guy from the bar looked like. It was now all over the city and on every news channel. Reporters were eager to know about the treasure and what was going on now. It would take time for them to find them. Don just hoped someone would see the guy and call it in.

Lindsay, Sheldon and Adam were investigating the scene of the crime. "Wes said the suspect came to the pool tables but he didn't pick up a cue before Mac came back into the room," Lindsay said. "He must have seen Mac and knew he was after him."

"And Mac followed him outside," Adam said. "I dusted that knob for prints, and there were a lot of them."

"All it takes is one," Sheldon said. "Just one match that fits the description of the man the witnesses described."

"I just hope we get one," Lindsay replied. "He bought a drink and I collected the glasses from the bar there beside the pool tables. Hopefully we will get some good prints from them."

Lindsey and Adam went outside in the alley where the stabbing took place. They easily found where Mac had bled. "Mac must have fought," Lindsay declared. "I mean, no one is going to take Mac Taylor down easily."

"And that means there could be blood from someone else out here," Adam agreed.

Lindsay stared around them. "I just don't see how he got the best of Mac out here," she said.

"Maybe he had help."

"There was no one else in the bar with him that the witnesses saw, and no one else came out except him and Mac."

"They must have come out another door or something."

They got all the evidence they could find but they did not find the knife that was used to stab Mac. "It's funny they stabbed Mac after they shot all those other people," Lindsay pointed out. "Usually a criminal has a favorite weapon."

"Maybe he didn't want to make a lot of noise out here with so many people around," Adam said.

"That could be right."

When they were done with the crime scene, they went back to the lab, hoping that they would find something that would lead to someone. The men they were looking for were dangerous and needed to be found. "I just can't believe these rich men would hire someone like this to get those treasures for them," Sheldon said. "I mean, these people are dangerous. They could have killed them too to keep them from knowing who they are."

"But they didn't want anyone to know that they were associated with them," Lindsay replied. "They would have never told it and they know it."

"It's just a complicated case no matter how you look at it."

"That's true."

Adam got busy with the fingerprints to see if they could get a hit and maybe it would give them a name. Lindsey had taken blood samples from the alley where Mac was stabbed. She got busy on those while Sheldon was taking fingerprints from the glasses that were in the bar. In the back of their minds, they were concerned about Mac but they knew they had to get the evidence processed before valuable parts of it were ruined or could not be found anymore.

Danny and Jo were waiting impatiently in the waiting room. Jo was pacing back and forth. Danny had finally sat down but he had sat down several times and found it hard to stay seated. He got up and joined Jo in pacing and they circled the room on opposite sides. "Why is it taking so long for them to tell us anything?" Jo asked.

"It was pretty serious," Danny answered.

Jo did not want to hear that. She wanted to know how Mac was doing. She hated waiting for news like this. It was nerve racking and just too much tension but they had no choice but to wait. She thought it was sad that Mac had no one else around but them. He had no family in New York. She had never even heard if he had any family at all. He never mentioned anything like that. Jo supposed after a person got so old, they just had their own life and lost touch…or some people. She was certainly not like that. She thought Mac just kept all that too himself.

After another hour, a doctor came into the waiting area. "Family and friends of Mac Taylor," he said.

Jo and Danny hurried over to him. "How is he?" Jo asked.

"We have him stabilized for now," the doctor said. "He lost a lot of blood. The knife blade had been twisted and then jerked out from the appearance of the wound. It nicked a vein but we got that stopped in time. It also nicked his intestine. He's got a lot of healing to do."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"If he stays stable. We had to shock him a few times. We thought we were going to lose him a couple of times but we finally got him stabilized."

Jo was horrified at that statement. "When can we see him?" she asked.

"Not now. I don't know when. That's all I can tell you."

The doctor turned and left. Jo looked at Danny. "Is that all we can hear?" she asked. "We can't even see him?"

"He'll make it," Danny said.

"Why do people have to be alone when they're like this? Does everyone have to suffer and die alone?"

Danny looked at Jo. "He's not going to die!" he said.

Jo covered her face. "But it's always this way. When someone is in critical condition, they have to be alone."

Danny knew Jo was just upset, but he had thought of that too. He wished he could see Mac too. He could not imagine going to that lab every day and not seeing Mac. He just had to get well…


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning, Danny and Jo had still not heard anything about Mac again. Jo had to go home to Ellie but Danny had stayed at the hospital all night. His phone rang at around 8 am. "Messer," he answered.

"Danny, have you heard anything else about Mac?" Don asked.

"Not a word. I'm wondering why they haven't said anything else all night."

"I'm gonna get Sheldon to come down there. He can find out something."

"Good. You got anything else on that guy who attacked Mac?"

"There were three," Don said. "The bartender, Scotty, said that Mac told him there were three."

"When did he tell him that?" Danny asked.

"Before we got there, and we got some fingerprints from the bar and even some blood from the alley that wasn't Mac's. None of them were in the system. Whoever these guys are, they don't have a record."

"That's why they can get away with it and we can't find them. They're not known."

"Yet."

"Yeah, yet, but that doesn't help us any. Does Jo know this?"

"Yeah. I told her. She's not too happy about that."

"Neither am I." Danny stretched his back. "I hate spending the night in a hospital."

"Me too but I'm glad you are there."

"Talk to you later."

Danny ended the call. He looked toward the nurse's desk. He went over there to ask again if he could know about Mac Taylor. "Is there anymore information about Mac Taylor?" he asked.

The nurse looked at Danny. She was getting weary of him asking that all the time. "They have not given me anymore information," she said.

"When will the doctor be in to see him?"

"He should be in any time now."

"Why can't I see Mac yet?"

"He's in very serious condition. He doesn't need visitors right now."

"How do you know that? Maybe that's what he does need."

"He doesn't need germs and we have to follow the hospital rules."

Danny nodded. "Sorry," he said.

"I understand your concern but you will be informed when we know something."

Danny went back to the waiting area and sat down. He yawned because he had not slept much if any. He had been too worried to sleep. He had talked to Lindsay some during the night but she had gotten a little sleep. He would just sit here and keep vigil while everyone else had to figure out the case. He did not want Mac to be alone.

Jo was back in the office by 9 am. "Are there no leads yet?" she asked as she walked into the lab.

"None yet," Adam replied. "These guys are not well-known yet…or at least that's what Don thinks."

"Well, surely someone has seen them! They can't be invisible."

"The guy's picture has been broadcast all over the city. Maybe someone will see him soon."

"I hope so. This guy has crossed the line and injured a cop. I want him found and his friends too!"

Jo walked out of the computer lab. She wished they would tell them something about Mac too. She thought someone around there must know how he is doing. Was he still stable? Had he had any more trouble during the night? She wanted to know. She rubbed her forehead. All this tension was starting to give her a headache.

As Danny was sitting in the waiting area, Scotty, the bartender came in. "How is he?" he asked.

"I don't know," Danny replied. "They haven't told us anything."

"Nothing?"

"No, not since last night."

Scotty did not think that sounded very good. "Well, wouldn't they tell you if he woke up?" he asked.

"I don't know," Danny said. "Looks like they could tell us if he's improving."

"They don't seem to want anyone to know anything." Scotty sat down beside Danny. "He's a good cop. He comes in the bar sometimes and just hangs out. He respects us."

"Mac's a good guy."

"Yeah. I remember the first time he came in there. It was not long after nine-eleven. He came in there looking like the end of the world had come. Of course, we were all feeling almost like that, but he seemed to be feeling really low. He just sat at that table in the corner and stared into his drink for the longest time. I figured he might have lost someone in the towers but I didn't ask that night. I just let him sit there and brought him drinks when he asked for one."

Danny looked at Scotty. "Did he ever tell you?" he asked.

"Yeah. He finally started sitting at the bar and talking. I just stood there and listened. I didn't even know he was a cop until then. He seemed to want to blend in."

"We all want to blend in sometimes. It's nice to be like everyone else sometimes."

Scotty frowned. "When he came in last night, I figured he was hunting someone that had to do with that treasure. It was all over the news, and everybody who came in seemed to be talking about it. It was quite a haul, wasn't it?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah, it was," he said. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Just one piece of it could make a person filthy rich."

"It would be enough for us."

They were silent for a while, both wondering what was happening to Mac back there that no one was letting them know anything. Danny finally stood up. "Well, I have to get some coffee or something," he said. "I'm just about to the end of what I ate yesterday."

"I'll stay here," Scotty replied. "If they come out, I'll let you know."

"Thanks."

Danny went down to the cafeteria. He could smell the breakfast in there and it made him even hungrier. He got himself a plate and then headed back to the waiting room. He sat down at the table to eat. "No one came in while you were gone," Scotty said.

"Thanks," Danny replied. "Sheldon Hawks will be here soon. He will go in there and see what he can find out."

Don had gotten a report that someone had spotted the suspect. He called a team together and Jo was there as well. "Are we sure he's still in there?" she asked.

"I haven't gotten anymore information," Don said. "If we can get the guy and his friends, we'll have both cases solved."

"And then we can get back to Mac."

They were at an old hotel in the Bronx. A report had come in that the suspect had checked in, and that two others were with him. They went up to the room where they were supposed to be. Don nodded to the two officers with the battering ram. They rammed the door and Don went in with his weapon aimed. "N.Y.P.D.!" he yelled as he went in the door. "Freeze!"

There were three men in the room, and not only them, but also three women. They were in no position to run. "Stay right there," Don said. "You're under arrest!"

They got all the people in the room and made them get dressed and put them under arrest. "You're under arrest for murder, grand theft, and attempted murder, and I don't know what all else," Don said as he was arresting the main suspect.

They got them down to the precinct and got them booked. The first suspect who had stabbed Mac still had the knife on him, so they did not have much trouble finding that. His name was Bryan Gray. "Who did you steal that treasure for?" Don asked. He laid a picture of Pierre Manicotti on the table. "You killed that guy and you killed his maid and butler. Then you had the gall to try and kill Mac Taylor because he had found you."

Gray glared at Don. "You don't have any proof," he said.

"Oh yeah?" Don asked. Don laid the fingerprint matches on the table. "What does that look like? And when Detective Taylor wakes up, I'm sure he is going to recognize you, and not only that, but we have two witnesses who knew who Detective Taylor was after that night. Trust me, you're going away for a very long time. Now, who did you steal that treasure for?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"I'm sure your friends in there are going to tell me, because I just have a feeling that they are not as favorable toward murder as you are. I want to know who hired you."

Gray folded his arms. "Whatever. I'm not a rat."

Don put his pictures back in the folder. "Well, I hope you like six by eight rooms."

Don left the interrogation room and watched as Jo was interrogating one of the others. His name was Raymond Dennis. "I didn't have anything to do with killing anyone," Dennis said. "Bryan was the one who did that. He stabbed that cop, and he killed those three people. I went with him to try and get the treasure from that chef but I didn't know he was going to kill people."

"Who were you working for?" Jo asked. "I want a name."

Dennis looked down at the table. "He'll have us killed," he said.

"No he won't because he will be behind bars too."

"Are you kidding? He's so rich, he will probably never go to jail and if he did he would have enough money to control the jail."

Jo could not believe what she was hearing. "Tell me who hired you," she said. "He deserves to go to prison too."

Dennis sighed. "It was Eddie Waddle and John Gordon," he said. "They both wanted that treasure."

"What about Arnold Watts?"

"Never heard of him. It was those two who hired us. They were going to pay us a lot of money but then things went bad and…well, it just didn't work out."

"They didn't pay you?"

"No, and Bryan never gave them the eggs either. So where are they?"

"He has a safety deposit box where he was keeping them until they decided to pay up, but they wanted everything to settle down first."

"I want to know where that deposit box is and where the key is."

"Bryan must have it. I don't have it."

"Thank you very much."

Jo left the interrogation room. "Now, we have to get that lowlife to talk," she said.

"I don't think so," Don replied. "When we took up his personal effects, there were some keys in it. Chances are, one of them is to that deposit box."

"Good. Get a warrant for it."

"Don't need one. It's the property of the department now."

"Let's see if we can find it then."

After examining the keys that Bryan Gray had turned in, they found that one of them was from a bank. "That must be it," Jo said. "We have to contact this bank and get into this thing."

Danny finished eating his breakfast and was sitting in the waiting room again when the doctor came in there. Sheldon was just arriving. "How is Mac Taylor, Doctor?" Danny asked.

The doctor sighed and looked at them. "I'm afraid he is not doing well," he said.

Danny frowned. "What…what do you mean?"

"His fever has spiked up to one-hundred four over the last two hours and he has had some hemorrhaging. We've had to give him two pints of blood. I'm afraid we've done all we can do besides try to keep his fever down and keep the bleeding stopped. We're giving him antibiotics to try and bring down infection."

"The tear in the intestine is causing that, right?" Sheldon asked.

"Yes. If he had not gotten here when he did, it would have been a lot worse." The doctor looked at his watch. "I have to get back in there."

"When can we see Mac?" Danny asked. "I want to see him."

"I'll arrange to let you see him soon."

The doctor went back through the doors to the ICU. Danny looked at Sheldon. "What does that mean?" Danny asked.

Sheldon looked at him. "It doesn't sound good," he said.

"Are you saying that Mac is going to…"

"They don't know. We have to wait and see what happens. We can't just give up hope."

"Hope. We could hope all day and it wouldn't help him."

"Well, maybe you should start talking to a higher power."

Jo and Don were at the bank that the key came from. The banker let them into the room with the deposit boxes and took out the one that the key fit. Jo opened the box and there were the two missing Faberge eggs. She looked at Don. "Well, I guess that's that," she said.

"Now, all we have to do is prove that Eddie Waddle and John Gordon had something to do with this," Don said.

"That shouldn't be too hard. They've already had one roll over on them."

"That won't be enough. Since they didn't even have the evidence with them, there's no way we can prove that they hired those guys. These guys killed those people and those guys will get off with this no matter what these lowlifes say."

"Well, at least we got them for murder and for what they did to Mac. They won't get away with that."

When all the evidence was processed, there was nothing that would implicate Eddie Waddle, or John Gordon with being involved in the mess. Jo called Danny to find out how Mac was. "We got the guys who did all this although we can't tie those rich guys to it," she said. "How is Mac?"

Danny was quiet a moment. "Not good," he said.

Jo frowned. "What?"

"He's not doing good, Jo. You guys should get down here."

Jo did not know what to say. "Are you saying that he's going to…that he…"

"I don't know, Jo. Sheldon is trying to find out more but according to that doctor, he's not well."

"That's just not possible."

Danny did not know what else to say. He did not want to believe it either but it was true. Mac might not make it…


	12. Chapter 12

Jo and the others got down to the hospital as soon as they could. Danny and Sheldon were still in the waiting area. "What's going on?" Jo asked.

"We're still waiting," Danny answered. "The doctor says he will let us see him soon."

Jo could not believe it. "There must be something going on."

Lindsay leaned on Danny's shoulder and frowned. All she wanted to hear was that Mac was going to be okay. Danny yawned again. He was very tired from staying there all night and all day but he was not going to leave now. He just could not believe Mac was hanging on by a thread but that was what the doctor seemed to be implying.

"They wouldn't even let me in there," Sheldon said. "There's nothing else they can tell us so all we can do is wait."

"Why can't we be in there with him?" Jo asked. "Why does he have to be in there alone?"

"It's just the way things work. Cuts down on germs, keeps the room clear in case there's an emergency. There are lots of reasons."

"None of which make sense. We can wear a mask, wash up, and we would move aside if something happened."

Sheldon shook his head. "It's just policy," he said.

They all paced around the room, wondering if they were going to see Mac alive again, wondering what was happening to him. Sheldon sat down. "When the stabber twisted that knife, he did extensive damage," he said. "I mean, it not only stabbed but it ripped and tore through whatever was there."

"To do the greatest amount of damage," Jo said. She folded her arms. "Doesn't sound like someone who has never been in trouble."

Don nodded. "He's either put a lot of thought into it or he was involved in some unsolved crime in the city."

"There was no medical background so he doesn't know that from anything he's seen from that."

Don sighed. "Maybe he's practiced on animals."

Jo's mouth dropped open with disgust. "That is just awful."

"Well, I've seen everything. I mean, there are dead animals found all over this city all the time. Who knows how they died and I'm sure there are many that no one ever finds."

"All those are strays, I guess."

"I guess."

After another hour, the doctor came into the waiting area and told them that they could see Mac now, but only one at a time. Jo hated that. "Why can't we all go in at the same time?" she asked.

"It's just too much," the doctor replied. "One at a time." He turned and left.

"You go first," Don said, referring to Danny. "You've been here all night and all day."

The others agreed so Danny nodded. He turned and went through the doors which led down a hallway. A nurse met him with sterile clothing that he had to wear to go in where Mac was. He got into them and then was led to Mac's room. "He's asleep so he won't respond to you," the nurse said.

Danny nodded and went into the room. He walked over to the bed and looked at Mac who seemed to be breathing easily. He was breathing on his own, but his blood pressure was still low and his heart rate was slow. "Mac," Danny said. He almost expected Mac to say something. "We found the guy who did this to you. He's marinating now. We got the two who helped him too, and we found that treasure that they stole from the chef. You were right, they had stolen what he had with him to show." Danny thought about what he just said. "Why would he have that to show unless…" He stared at Mac. "Don't give up, Mac. We need you at that lab." He thought Mac looked awfully pale. He touched Mac's forehead much like he felt of Lucy's head when he thought she might have fever, and Mac felt cold. "Come on back to us, Mac." He had thought they said Mac had fever before, but he supposed he could be hotter on the inside than on the outside.

Danny hated to leave, but he had to let the others come in. He left the room and went back out to the waiting area. The others could tell by the look on his face that it was not good. They had decided who was going next, and that was Jo, so she went on through the doors.

Danny walked over to Don. "I just had a thought," he said.

"What?" Don asked.

"Why would Manicotti have some of that treasure with him to show unless he thought he was meeting someone who was going to buy it?" Danny asked.

Don considered that a moment. "Maybe he thought he was going to meet up with one of those rich men who were going to buy them."

"That's what I was thinking. Why would he bring something like that for some amateurs to look at? He probably wouldn't have even shown up if he had known he was meeting them."

"You may be on to something there, Messer."

"You guys did your part in that case, and now, I'm going to do mine. Let me know if anything changes with Mac."

"Sure will."

Danny walked over to Lindsay and kissed her. "I'll see you later," he said.

"Where are you going?" Lindsay asked.

"I don't think that case is completely solved yet."

Danny left the hospital and went back to the lab. He would have to do the search himself since everyone else was at the hospital. He would have to get a subpoena to get Manicotti's phone records and then he would find out whether he had a conversation with Waddle or Gordon in that time. Danny had not even met John Gordon yet. He and Mac had planned to be visiting that guy this very day and then everything had gone haywire.

Jo walked into Mac's room and sighed. "Mac Taylor, how did you get yourself into this?" she asked. "Why didn't you take someone with you?" She walked over to the bed. She wished she had known what he was doing. She held his hand and it felt so cold and limp. "Mac, don't leave us. I don't want to be in charge of that lab." Jo paced around the bed and sighed. "Oh, Mac, I wish you would just twitch or something. You're part of our lives and we don't want you to be gone. It just wouldn't be the same without you."

When Jo came out of the ICU area, the others saw her wipe a few tears. "Oh, I hate seeing him like that," she said. "He just has to come out of this."

Sheldon went in next. He was ready to get in there and do his own exam and hear Mac's heart for himself. He got into the sterile clothes and got a stethoscope before he went in there. He walked over to Mac's bed as he entered the room. He could see that Mac was very pale to what his skin color usually was. He picked up Mac's wrist and felt his pulse. He had to admit it was very weak and slow. He listened to his heart which sounded pretty strong but slow. The blood loss had caused his blood pressure to be low and he had not built back up yet. Sheldon looked at Mac. "Fight, Mac," he said. "You can overcome this."

Danny was getting his subpoena and then waiting for the phone company to respond. He had to have those phone records. It might be the only way to prove that Eddie Waddle or John Gordon had any contact with Pierre Manicotti. He had to get the phone records from the landline phones and the cell phones. There had been nothing in the computers that pointed to anything, so he must have spoken to them on the phone. Danny just hoped they had not done all their talking at the restaurant. If they had, they would probably get away with their crime of trying to steal those treasures.

The next to go into Mac's room was Don Flack. He walked over to Mac's bed and folded his arms. "You should have told me you were going to that bar," he said. "I could have gone with you or I could have sat outside." He frowned and paced back and forth. "I don't mean to be scolding you. I just wish I could have helped you." Don hated it when someone got hurt and he might have been able to prevent it…if he had known about it. He could not understand why Mac had not told anyone that he was going to the bar to look for a suspect. He thought maybe Mac was just looking for information and did not expect to find anyone and that was why he did not tell anyone. He had gone to bars alone before and searched for information. He could not really say anything about Mac doing it.

Danny finally got the phone records and began looking through them. He found the ones for the last few months and found that Manicotti had been in contact with Eddie Waddle, and he had been in contact with him the night he was murdered. He did not find any contacts with John Gordon. Danny wondered if it was all Waddle's idea to hire those thugs to steal that treasure. He could not understand that though, but he figured the man thought no one would ever be looking for that treasure since no one knew it existed anyway and he wanted it all without paying for it. Danny thought this would be enough to get him a warrant to bring Eddie Waddle in for questioning. He called Don to let him know what he was doing.

"I would love to bring that guy in," Don declared. "If he had anything to do with what happened to Mac, I want him to go away for a long time."

"I don't think they had anything to do with that, but I know that Eddie Waddle had called Manicotti the night that he was murdered."

"What about John Gordon?"

"No sign that he had talked to him that night, but he could have been in on it too."

"We have to have proof if we're going after them."

"Well, I'm getting a warrant to bring in Eddie Waddle."

"I'll go with you to serve that warrant," Don said. "I want to see the look on his face."

"Me too," Danny replied.

By the time Don got Waddle to the precinct, he had three lawyers there waiting. However, he took Waddle to the interrogation room anyway. "You have no right to hold our client here," one of the lawyers declared.

"We're questioning him anyway," Don said. "So, why don't you just shut up?"

"I don't have to answer any of your questions," Waddle said. "You don't have any proof that I had anything to do with this."

"Oh, but we have proof that you talked to Manicotti the night he was murdered."

Danny came into the room as well. He sat down at the table. "I just couldn't figure out why Manicotti would agree to meet with some low-life amateurs about this treasure," he said. "And the only thing I could think of was that he must have thought he was meeting you." Danny leaned on the table. "You hired those thugs to lean on Manicotti so you could get that whole treasure for yourself, didn't you? They went to his house and he wasn't there, and you didn't know that one of them was a budding murderer so he kills them and they trashed the house looking for the treasure which they must have thought would be in plain view or stored somewhere obvious."

"And then when they didn't find it," Don went on. "You sent them to meet him and the same guy wound up killing him and taking those two eggs, but then he decided not to give them to you but he stored them in a safety deposit box to get more money out of you. Are we getting close?"

Waddle glared at them. "That is absurd!" he said. "Why would I need to do something like that when I could buy that whole treasure?"

"Because you didn't want to pay for it," Danny said. "You wanted to get it so you could sell it under the table and you knew he wouldn't say nothing about it because some of those paintings were stolen and he would be up for grand theft and no telling how many other charges."

"All I know is, Manicotti had that treasure and I wanted to buy some of it from him," Waddle said. "That's it! I have nothing to do with this."

"Do you know John Gordon?" Don asked.

"Of course I know him. What does he have to do with this?"

"We think he was in on this with you. Maybe he hired those thugs."

"Maybe he did. Maybe you should ask him. I am not in league with him."

Danny leaned back in his chair and blew out a breath. He hated it when they knew someone was guilty and could not arrest them because there was no evidence that implicated them in the crime. "If that is all, gentlemen, my client is leaving," one of the lawyers said. "You have nothing on him, and you're going to be hearing about this."

"Go ahead and talk about it," Don said. "We had a warrant and we had legitimate reason for bringing him in here."

Waddle left with his lawyers. Don and Danny looked at each other. "You knew that was how it would be," Don said.

"Yeah," Danny replied. "I was just hoping he would slip up. It's only circumstantial evidence that can't be used to convict anyone."

"Even the word of the ones he hired is not good enough. We would have to catch him red-handed, but since he didn't have the eggs, there's no way to do that either."

Danny closed his folder. "So, how was Mac when you saw him?" he asked.

Don shook his head. "He was not changed," he said. "He was just lying there."

"It's hard to see him like that."

"Yeah. He's supposed to be Superman."

Lindsay had just come from Mac's room when Danny and Don arrived back at the hospital. She did not look happy. "How long can he lie there like that?" she asked.

Sheldon shook his head. He knew a person could lie there a long time and then go either way. He hoped Mac survived but he could not be sure that he would until something changed. They all sat around in the waiting area and Danny told them what happened with the interrogation of Eddie Waddle. "No way to prove it," he said.

Jo rolled her eyes in disgust. "It just makes me sick that somebody can get away with a crime just because they have money," she said.

Just then, Danny's phone rang and it was the chief calling. "Uh oh," he said and got up to answer it.

"I think we're going to get a little feedback from that interrogation," Don said as he shook his head.

"Probably," Jo agreed. "We try to do our jobs and people would rather prosecute us than the ones who are committing the crimes."

"Makes me wonder why I do this job sometimes."

Danny walked back over to them. "Don, you and I are wanted men," he said. "We have an appointment with the chief."

Don frowned and stood up. "I figured it," he said.

Jo came over to them. "Don't worry about it," she said. "You did the right thing no matter what happens."

Don and Danny left and went out to their cars and went to the precinct. Chief Burns was waiting for them when they got to his office. "Have a seat," Burns said.

Don and Danny sat down in the chairs in front of Burns' desk. "Chief, I know this is about…" Danny began.

Burns held up his hand. "I don't want to hear it," he said. "Eddie Waddle wants to bring a suit against this department."

"We didn't arrest him," Don declared. "And we had a warrant to bring him in for questioning because he had…"

"I know all that, but that still doesn't change what he's doing."

"Chief, we got that warrant from a judge who thought we had just cause to bring him in," Danny said.

"Yes, you did, but I'm just warning you about what's coming. How is Detective Taylor anyway?"

Don frowned. "We don't know," he said. "He hasn't woke up yet."

"The doctors haven't said anything?"

"Nothing encouraging. They don't know, we can only wait."

Jo and Lindsey were sitting in the waiting room when the doctor came from the ICU. They stood up and waited for him to tell them something. "His heart rate has increased a little," the doctor said. "And his blood pressure has come up some too."

"Oh, thank God!" Jo said and hugged Lindsay.

"I'm not saying he's out of the woods yet, but it's a good sign."

"Thank you, Doctor. When can we see him again?"

"This afternoon. We still have to keep a close eye on him. If he improves more, he may get to go to a room tomorrow."

The doctor left and Jo sighed a sigh of relief as she and Lindsay sat back down. "I am so glad he is improving," Jo said.

"Me too," Lindsay replied. She sent a message to Danny to let him know. They knew Mac was not out of the woods yet, but he was walking in the right direction right now.

The next morning, Mac's heart rate was back up the way it should be, but he still had not regained consciousness. His blood pressure was almost where it should be but not quite. However, he was improving and the doctor had said he would be moved into a room later that day.

After lunch, Mac was moved into a private room although he was not conscious yet. He could be monitored from there. As soon as they could, Danny and Don went into the room. The others were off on a case. "I'm glad we can come in here at the same time," Danny said.

"Me too," Don agreed. "I feel like I'm talking to myself when I come in alone."

They walked over to Mac's bed. "At least he doesn't look so pale today," Don remarked.

"Yeah, he looked pretty bad yesterday," Danny said. He touched Mac's forehead. "He feels warm today."

"Hey, Mac, we need you to wake up. Things aren't the same without you."

"That's true. We don't have anyone to talk to the chief for us. We have to go and talk to him ourselves."

"Yeah, that's right. I don't like going to the chief's office."

They sat down and watched Mac a few minutes. "You think that lawsuit will blow over?" Danny asked.

"It should," Don replied. "We have a legitimate reason."

"Yeah. I just wish Mac was awake so he could help us with that."

"You know, he might want to retire some day and we will have to handle this kind of stuff ourselves."

Danny shook his head. "I hope that is a long time from now."

"Me too."

Jo came to the hospital later that day after they had worked on their new case a while. Danny had gone home to rest and Don had to get out and round up some criminals. Jo walked into Mac's room. "Good afternoon," she said. "Are you going to wake up and talk to me this time?" She watched Mac a moment for the slightest movement. "I think you're just trying to get some rest." She had brought her dinner with her since she could not go home yet. "I hope you can smell this." She opened the lid and held it close to Mac so if he could, he would smell it. "Oh, this is going to taste so good. It's too bad you're not awake, I would let you have a bite."

Jo took a bite of her dinner and made comments about how good it was just hoping that Mac was on the edge of consciousness and might hear her. "So, what have you been doing all day?" she asked and smiled. "I'm sorry if that sounds rude. I know you've been sleeping all day. I've been out working on a case and worrying about you and worrying about Ellie. She's having all these problems at school. Nothing serious but she just…well, she's a teenager, you know. Those years are just not easy no matter how you look at it. I left the case in the hands of Lindsey and Sheldon. I wanted to come down here and see you, even though you're not talking to me. Can't you just smell this food?" Jo ate for a moment and then looked at Mac. She wished he would move or something. "At least you don't look so pale today. You were looking pretty white yesterday. We come from that generation who likes a tan, you know. I never liked trying to get a tan. It was just hot and I never got much anyway and then I would wind up with a burn." Jo shook her head. "Seemed like a lot of nonsense and a waste of time. There were a lot of things to do besides lay out there in the sun."

Mac thought he could hear Jo talking but she sounded far away. He felt as though he was looked way out at a point of light and it seemed like a tremendous effort to try and reach it. He thought he smelled food too and he definitely heard Jo talking. He thought she could always think of something to say. He was not sure why he could not respond to her but he was so tired he just did not feel like talking.

Jo finished eating and then she moved over to the side of Mac's bed. She leaned close to him. She thought she would try something else to see if he would wake up. "Mac Taylor, I think you are one of the sexiest men I have ever seen," she said and waited a moment. She put her hands on her hips. "Well, if that didn't wake you up, I guess you're not going to wake up right now." She caressed his face. "Wake up soon. We miss you." She kissed his forehead and then got her purse. "I have to get going. You hang in there and get your strength back and come back to us."

That evening, Don was yawning as he walked into the hospital. He had to go home tonight and get some sleep, but he wanted to see Mac first. He walked into the room and over to Mac's bed. "Well, you're looking better this evening," he said in his cheerful way.

To Don's surprise, Mac opened his eyes. Don leaned over to make sure he was not just imagining it. "Hey!" he said. "You're awake."

"You're loud," Mac said groggily.

"Has anybody else seen you awake?"

Mac considered that. "I don't know." He was about to fall asleep again.

"It's good to see you awake, Mac."

Mac nodded slightly but then he was asleep again. Don was happy now and he called to let the others know that Mac had been awake and had talked a little. Jo was so excited, she blurted it out loud enough that everyone could hear her at once. There was a big cheer in the lab about that.

The next morning, Mac was awake when the others came in to see him. "It is so good to see you awake," Jo said with a smile. She kissed him on the cheek.

Lindsay walked over to the bed and kissed him as well. "Hey, you get a lot of kisses when you're sick," Don said.

Mac smiled. He was not sure what to say. He felt like he had been asleep forever. "What happened with the case?" he asked.

"We got the three guys who did this to you," Danny said. "They were also indicted for those three murders but we couldn't tie Eddie Waddle and John Gordon to it."

Mac absorbed that a moment. "So they get away with it," he said.

"Well, we got the ones who participated in the actual act," Don said.

"And the art was returned to where it belongs already," Jo added. "And the treasures will be on display at the museum for everyone to see. Manicotti's family is protesting that, saying they should be part of the estate…I don't know."

Mac shrugged slightly. "Maybe they should," he said and then he coughed a little. He grimaced as that hurt.

"Have they given you something for that cough?" Sheldon asked.

"I haven't coughed until now."

"Well, if you keep doing that, they should give you something. How has your fever been?"

"I still had fever today but they said it wasn't as high as before."

"Good."

Mac was in the hospital for a week and then he had therapy to build his strength back up. He thought he would not need that long because he was feeling much better. He felt a slight pain where that knife had gone in…it reminded him of the pain he had felt when he was stabbed. He remembered the guy twisting that knife. He rubbed his side as he thought of that. He knew he had come close to death but he had made it out. He wanted to do better than that from now on. He would not go after suspects without backup.

The next weekend, Mac went over to the Green Tree bar to pay a visit. He walked over to the bar and leaned on it as he had done so many times. "Mac Taylor!" Scotty exclaimed. He shook Mac's hand. "It's good to see you out."

"It's good to be out," Mac replied.

"Your drink is on the house tonight. Anything you want."

Mac smiled. "I'll take a limeade."

Scotty laughed and went to get the drink. "You're something, Taylor." He set the drink on the bar.

"Hey, I like what I like." Mac looked toward the pool room. "Is Wes in there?"

"Yes, I think he is."

Mac nodded and then headed for the game room. Wes was standing at the pool table. He smiled as he saw Mac. "Hey, are you ready to get beat again?" he asked.

"I might be," Mac said. He shook Wes's hand. "Thanks for saving my life."

"Aw, I didn't have nothing to do with that."

"You helped. I appreciate it."

"Well, I'm sure you would save mine if it came down to it."

Mac nodded. "I would." He looked at the pool table. "Are you having any luck?"

"No, but I probably will now that you're here."

Mac looked at him. "Are you saying I'm a bad pool player?" he asked.

"Yeah."

Mac could not help but laugh although it still hurt a little. Then he saw Don Flack walk in. "Since when do you hang around here?" Mac asked.

"Oh I thought I would just mosey in here and see what goes on," Don said.

"Well, I'm about to lose a pool match…or that's what he tells me."

"Hey, I'll stay and watch."

Mac was glad he was alive to be there and play that pool match…


End file.
